Hopsteiner supports the fight against Sars-COV-2

Company update | Hopsteiner celebrates its 175th anniversary this year. Instead of traditional festivities, we have decided to engage in a research cooperation dedicated to the fight against COVID-19 in the field of the antiviral effect of hop ingredients.

The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has spread worldwide in recent months. Despite intensive protective measures and safety precautions, the virus and also the associated disease COVID-19 continues to spread. This has sometimes devastating health consequences, but also immense social and economic consequences.
Intensive research is therefore being conducted worldwide to find a suitable vaccine. However, there are currently no approved vaccines available in Europe. The search for alternative treatment strategies is therefore of particular importance.
It is our intention to find a way to prevent an infection by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 as well as to support the immune system in fighting the virus in case of an already existing infection. Recently, the activity of an alcoholic hop extract against influenza viruses was reported, which is attributed to polyphenols contained therein.
These include in particular the prenylflavonoids typical for hops, such as xanthohumol and prenylnaringenin. As early as 2016, scientists at the University Hospital of Tübingen were able to prove in laboratory tests that specific prenylflavonoids are able to stimulate the immune system and thus contribute to killing cancer cells.
We now want to build on this knowledge.
In concrete terms, we are now providing substantial support to the University Hospital of Tübingen and the University of Hohenheim in a research project which aims to characterize and evaluate drug candidates isolated from hops for potential antiviral activity.
In this way we would like to try to make our contribution in the fight against the pandemic.