Virco

  Virco is a biotech company located in Mechelen, Belgium. It provides a quantitative phenotype prediction for HIV resistance testing. The prediction is achieved by performing a search in a database of genotype-phenotype pairs and matching the mutations in the database with those of the sample of the patient (Nearest neighbor search). A phenotype is predicted which provides information on the resistance of the virus to treatment.

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History

Virco was founded in 1995 by Rudi Pauwels (Rega Institute for Medical Research) and Paul Stoffels (Janssen Pharmaceutica). Over the years the company built up a database on all the possible mutations of the AIDS virus and the ways in which drugs reacted to these mutations. The company acted as a partner to other companies such as LabCorporation. LabCorp., and others, sent the blood samples of AIDS patients to Virco, where tests were carried out into the virus's possible resistance to the anti-HIV drugs. On 21 March 2002 the company was acquired by Johnson & Johnson.

References

• Larder BA, Kemp SD, Hertogs K. Quantitative prediction of HIV-1 phenotypic drug resistance from genotypes: the virtual phenotype (VirtualPhenotype), Antiviral Therapy. 2000;5 (suppl 3):49.

See also

• HIV test
• Tibotec
• FlandersBio