Antibodies: mix, but do not shake
Cocktail of antibodies destroyed SARS-CoV-2 and may become an alternative to vaccination
Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+
The cocktail is created from a set of the strongest antibodies taken from those who have had COVID-19 in severe form. Its use can both accelerate recovery in patients with coronavirus, and probably protect against infection on the principle of a vaccine. The first tests showed extremely high effectiveness of the drug – it completely destroyed the virus in the lungs of model animals.
Despite the statements of many groups of scientists from different countries that some experimental vaccines are being prepared or have already started the third phase of clinical trials, the vaccine will be available for mass immunization of the population only in 2021. For this reason, scientists are studying all possible options for the treatment and prevention of the disease in order to reduce the mortality rate.
Solving this problem, American scientists have developed a powerful cocktail of neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Their work is published in Nature (Liu et al., Potential neutralizing antibodies directed to multiple epitopes on SARS-CoV-2 spike).
Previously, antibodies were taken from 40 patients who had been ill with COVID-19 in severe form. Of these, 61 types of antibodies were isolated, and then 9 of the most promising to destroy the coronavirus.
A cocktail of antibodies killed the virus in cell culture, and treatment testing on hamsters showed complete destruction of the virus in lung tissue.
3D reconstruction of the binding of antibodies (blue) with a viral spike protein (dark gray, orange and green).
"We have identified the most powerful antibodies that can be mass-produced and administered to patients. We hope that they can be used for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19," said study author David Ho.
The composition of the cocktail is very diverse, so it will be difficult for mutated variants of the virus to escape treatment, scientists quote a press release from Neutralizing Antibodies Isolated from COVID-19 Patients May Suppress Virus.
On the other hand, different antibodies are directed at different sites of the spike protein, which will prevent the resistance of SARS-CoV-2 to treatment.
The start of clinical trials is scheduled for October. If successful, scientists consider antibodies to be a promising vaccine replacement, especially for the most vulnerable groups of people. It is planned that they will remain in the body after blood transfusion for three to six months.
Another group of scientists from the USA studied the similarities between the most promising antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and found out that they have one common gene. In total, they analyzed almost 300 antibodies.
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