The "Guangdong-Technion Leadership in Science and Technology Lecture Series" have been held at GTIIT, to provide a platform for high-impact dialogues that explore topics that are pertinent to our faculty, our students, and our community.

Please click the following links for the previous lectures of this series:

Lecture Review | 赵东元院士与广以师生畅谈科学之美

Lecture Review | 诺奖得主开讲新冠疫情与伦理问题

Prof. Nadir Arber, the developer of the anti-COVID drug EXO-CD24 and professor of Tel Aviv University, presented two separate lectures with scientific and popular perspectives respectively, entitled "EXO-CD24 - Promise in the Corona Age - the Road from an Idea to a Groundbreaking Reality". EXO-CD24 is an anti-coronavirus drug invented by Prof. Nadir Arber.

EXO-CD24 is a combination of the CD24 protein and exosome that works by suppressing the immune storm, which is common among patients with severe COVID-19, and making it safer for the immune system to clear the virus. According to Prof. Nadir Arber, comparing to the previous treatment, EXO-CD24 is directly taken in by lung. When talking about the advantages of this new drug, he regarded it as a powerful weapon with rapid treatment, high cure rate, few side effects and low cost of mass production to fight against COVID-19. Besides, it can also be used to treat acute respiratory distress syndrome, asthma, anaphylactic reaction, autoimmune diseases and so on.

When recalling the difficulties in the course of developing EXO-CD24, Prof. Nadir Arber said, "Initially, we knew little about the essence of this virus, so we couldn't combine our knowledge with research well and it was the toughest time. During the research, we put in a lot of time and money, but the success rate of experiment was very low, which heavily frustrated us. Fortunately, we indeed made this historical breakthrough in the end, because we have always kept in mind that we can change the world and return people's life to norm!”

"The real hope of the COVID-19 Era is the cooperation of all mankind, instead of any specific drugs. We will encounter more and more powerful diseases in the future while specific drugs have limited effects. But with joint efforts of humans, the sunshine of hope will light up the future," said Prof. Nadir Arber.

Text: Liu Huayi, GTIIT News & Public Affairs

Photos: Yan Rundong, GTIIT News & Public Affairs