FAQ - Frequently asked questions

Here you will find frequently asked questions about our fundraising campaign.

Question: How long does the fundraising campaign last? When will the fundraising campaign end?

Answer: The fundraiser will last until the end of May 2022.

 

 

Question: What exactly are the 800.000 € needed for?

 

Answer: The 800.000 € will be used for the manufacturing of drugs, planning of the study according to GCP guidelines, registration fees with the authorities etc. The 800.000 € are the minimal amount that is necessary to realise the study.

 

 

Question: What kind of study is it exactly?

 

Answer: It is a drug trial to figure out whether the medication BC 007 has the same positive effect for ME/CFS as for Long Covid because people with ME/CFS show the same GPCR antibodies as patients with Long Covid.

 

 

Question: Why are there so few research projects on ME/CFS in Germany?

 

Answer: There are currently no calls for tender from the federal government, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), or similar for the disease pattern ME/CFS. For the Long COVID study, the team from Erlangen submitted an application to the BMBF in accordance with the “Funding guidelines for the funding of research projects on late symptoms of Covid-19 (Long-Covid)”, which was approved so that the funding for this study was secured.

 

 

Question: What happens if we raise more than €800,000? 

 

Answer: If funds are made available beyond the targeted amount - regardless of which external sources - we will also transfer our collected donations to the University of Erlangen to enable an extension of the study (see FAQ extension).

 

 

Question: What are the effects of the news that on April 6th, 2022 the Bavarian state government made €800,000 available to the University of Erlangen on the fundraising campaign in general?

 

Answer: The donations collected via #fundraisingbc007MEcfs will be transferred to the University of Erlangen for the study with the novel active ingredient BC 007 in ME/CFS patients in order to expand the study in a meaningful way (see FAQ on expansions). Anyone who donates money from February 20th, 2022 on automatically agrees to this. If a donation was made before February 20th, 2022, there is a possibility to contact us if the donation should be reclaimed. 

 

 

Question: I only wanted to donate for the minimal implementation (without extension) of the study. How do I get my money back? (Donation made before February 20th, 2022 and the Bavarian state government will provide the 800,000 euros as announced)

 

Answer: You can claim your donation back until June 1st, 2022. Please send us an e-mail to spenden@wir-fordern-forschung.orgasking for a return transfer. Please enter your full name, your IBAN, the transfer date and the amount of the donation. We will only process these emails if the Bavarian household decides to support the University of Erlangen with €800,000 on April 5th, 2022. In the event of a refund, you cannot of course submit your donation receipt.

 

 

Question: What extensions can there be to the study if the University of Erlangen has more than 800,000 euros available?

 

Answer: Possible extensions for the study - if a total amount of more than €800,000 is reached - include the following options: 

  1. Administration of the medication as part of an inpatient stay 
  2. Possible further/additional doses of the drug BC 007 in the event of a possible recurrence of the autoantibodies during the course of the study. 
  3. Extension of the study and follow-up to, for example, one year 
  4. Supplementation of the examinations and follow-up examinations by e.g. blood tests, heart function tests, etc. 

Overall, the fundraising campaign has an expanded scope with significant added value for the evaluation of the drug in relation to ME/CFS.

 

 

Question: What happens if the study does not take place even though the necessary donations have been raised? (e.g. if the drug BC007 is/cannot be made available for this purpose)

 

Answer: All donations will then be refunded to the donor minus any bank transaction fees, as it was initially published on our homepage until April 2022.

Please note that you will NOT be able to submit any donation receipts you may have already received to the tax office if you request a refund of the donation.

If it comes to that, we will inform you about the exact procedure here.

If there are any other questions please use our contact form or directly contact the Uniklinik-Erlangen: Contact data Working Group Long-COVID & ME/CFS

Donating is NOT possible anymore!

The non-profit association Brückeverbindet e.V. collects the donations for this project on a specially set up account. Your donation goes 100% to the research project of the UNI-Erlangen to include ME/CFS sufferers in the study with the promising drug BC007.

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