Project type:   International Research Projects

Unique project identifier:   LVP-BPA UNDP 00121484/2020-02

Project is funded by:   USAID/UNDP (Beograd, Serbia)

Instituions where the research is conducted:

  • University of Belgrade - Faculty of Chemistry (Belgrade, Serbia)
  • Institut za primenu nuklearne energije (Belgrade, Serbia)

Project realization started on December 3, 2020.

Project staff

Principal investigator:   Tanja D. Ćirković Veličković, University of Belgrade - Faculty of Chemistry (Beograd, Serbia)

(click to display the full list of investigators)

Short description of the project

Due to the huge demand, availability and the price of SARS CoV-2 serological tests and SARS CoV-2 antigens is unpredictableon the world market, especially during waves with high number of infected people. Hence, it is questionable if Serbia will manage to procure sufficient quantities of kits, and if Serbian manufacturer of diagnostic tests, Institute for application on nuclear energy – INEP, will  manage to  procure  sufficient  amounts  of  antigen  to  produce  the  test.  Therefore, without  the  development  and  sustainable production  of  SARS CoV-2  antigens in  Serbia,  the production of the domestic test will not beself-sustainable.The aim of the project is to produce the ELISA test for the detection of IgG antibodies specific for SARS CoV-2, based on antigens produced in Serbia.The result of the project will be 20 kits for 1,700 serological analyses of the selected population of healthcare workers. Kits will be used by the  domestic laboratory  diagnostic  partners: Institute for  Application  of  Nuclear  Energy  (INEP), Institute  of  Immunology,  Vaccine  and  Sera  Production - Torlak  and  Clinical Centre of Serbia (KCS). The proposed scientific and technological cooperation of the institutions will enable sustainable, local, on-demand production of the serological test for SARS CoV-2 detection. Our product will support the national testing strategy for monitoring the extent of the SARS CoV-2 infection and help control the spread of the disease.

[Graphical project abstract 1]

Representative references

  1. Đukić, Teodora; Mladenović, Maja; Stanić-Vučinić, Dragana; Radosavljević, Jelena; Smiljanić, Katarina; Sabljić, Ljiljana; Dević, Marija; Ćujić, Danica; Vasović, Tamara; Simović, Ana; Radomirović, Mirjana Ž.; Ćirković-Veličković, Tanja. (2021) Expression, purification and immunological characterization of recombinant nucleocapsid protein fragment from SARS-CoV-2 . Virology Journal, 557: 15-22. DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2021.01.004. Preprint: https://cherry.chem.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/4331