The CvilleBioHub, a new biotech networking organization, recently hosted a forum on Zika research at Indoor Biotechnologies. Daniel A. Engel, PhD, professor of Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology at the University of Virginia and chief scientific officer of Alexander Biodiscoveries, is currently studying a single protein of the Zika virus. His goal is to develop antibody fragments that would bind with this protein and neutralize the virus, forming the basis of an effective drug. Alexander Biodiscoveries is collaborating on this project with RioGin — another Charlottesville biotechnology company — and other researchers at UVa and the University of Chicago.
Engel, Hart and Malone’s companies are all members of the CvilleBioHub, which will officially launch in January.
For more on this: http://www.cvilletomorrow.org/news/article/25681-charlottesville-biotech-firms-working-on-zika/