Kappa Bioscience joins research collaboration with University Hospitals

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Kappa Bioscience (Oslo, Norway) is joining a research partnership with University Hospitals that aims to explore the link between vitamin K deficiency and COVID-19 severity. The research will be led by Grace McComsey, MD, vice president of research and associate chief scientific officer, University Hospitals.

McComsey will start by investigating the potential correlations among inflammatory chemical mediators (CRP, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-10), vitamin K2 status, vitamin D status, and COVID-19 severity in patients hospitalized in the University Hospital Health System. Healthy volunteers will serve as controls that will include samples from 100 COVID-19-positive patients. Samples from patients who are both in the early and late stage of infection from the coronavirus will be analyzed. 

"In case the generated data supports the hypothesis of a possible benefit of vitamin K2 supplementation, the project could go further and test this causality in prospective clinical trials,” said McComsey in a press release. “Kappa Bioscience is a manufacturer of vitamin K2 (menaquinone-7), and this product will be suitable as an active ingredient within the investigational product we need for the clinical trials. Our intention is to continue the collaboration with Kappa Bioscience throughout this interesting project.”