A New Therapy for Clinical Management of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
BIOMARKER AND AI-SUPPORTED FX06 THERAPY TO PREVENT THE PROGRESSION OF ARDS AND COVID-19
Four years of collaborative innovation in ARDS research
After four transformative years of research and collaboration, the COVend project (2021–2025) has officially reached its conclusion. Funded under Horizon Europe, COVend brought together 13 partners from eight European countries with a shared vision to advance treatment options for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) through the development of an innovative peptide-based therapeutic, FX06.
The COVend consortium represents a truly pan-European collaboration, combining expertise from clinical research, molecular biology, computational modelling and translational medicine. Each partner contributed to a multidisciplinary approach aimed at generating robust evidence and enabling future clinical applications of FX06.
Achievements and results
Over the course of the project, COVend made significant strides in both fundamental science and clinical translation. Among its major outcomes:
Identification of key cellular pathways that explain FX06’s protective mechanisms in the endothelium.
Comprehensive multi-omics analysis, including 460 proteins, 101 metabolites, and 466 lipid parameters from longitudinal ARDS patient samples.
Development of computational models that can be applied broadly to ARDS research in any clinical setting.
These findings not only deepen scientific understanding of endothelial dysfunction but also provide new tools for researchers investigating inflammatory lung injury and critical care conditions.
