Scientists in the UK have recruited the world’s first participants as part of a new long-acting antibody study.
If the treatment is effective, it may protect those who have already been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 from the development of COVID-19.
“We know that this antibody mixture can inactivate the virus,” explains Catherine Houlihan, a virologist at University College London Hospitals (UCLH).
“So we hope that those who have been exposed to this remedy by injection can get immediate protection against the development of Covid-19 – when the vaccination will be delayed.”
This may not be the first antibody treatment you have heard of for Covid-19. Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump was given monoclonal antibodies when he came up with the disease, and U.S. Two different antibody treatments – Casirivimb and Imdevib – were approved for emergency in November.
But those antibody therapies are given to mild or moderate COVID-19 patients who are at risk of progressing to a more severe version of the disease.
“Clinical trials of patients with KVID-1 with casirivimb and imdevib administered simultaneously showed a higher risk of disease progression within 28 days after treatment in patients with covid-19-related hospital admissions or reduced emergency room visits compared to placebo medications.” The FDA explained in a press statement when approved.
This new antibody therapy, called AZD424242૨ and developed by UCLH and AstraZeneca, is slightly different.
AZD424242૨ is a combination of two monoclonal antibodies AZD8895 and AZD1061, both targeting the receptor binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
The team won the U.S. Open. “By targeting this area of the virus spike protein, antibodies can block the association of the virus with human cells, and therefore, are expected to block infection,” the team wrote on the US Clinical Trials.gov website. Is.
“Substitutes for amino acids have been introduced into antibodies so that they extend their half-life, prolonging their potential prophylactic benefits, and reducing FC effective function to reduce the potential risk of disease-dependent antibody-based growth.”
Antibodies are small Y-shaped proteins that enclose a particular segment – called an antigen – of a virus, bacterium, or other pathogen, and are either attacked by the ‘pathological system’, or directly inhibited by the pathogen. Are cells.
Normal antibodies are produced by your body after infection, when monoclonal antibodies are cloned in a laboratory and can be introduced into an already infected person to help fight the immune system.
Researchers are hoping that the AZD7442 – which is just beginning the Storm Chaser study (the name of its Phase 3 trial) – provides protection for people who have been exposed to the virus, but have no symptoms yet. Effectively, they are trying to stop COVID-19 from happening in the first place.
“If you are experiencing an outbreak in settings such as care homes, or if you have met patients who are particularly at risk of developing severe covid like the elderly, this could well save many lives,” said a University of East Anglia infectious disease specialist. Said Paul Hunter The Guardian.
“If you live with your elderly grandmother and you or someone else in the house becomes infected, you can give this to save her.”
But they are also hoping that it will be effective in the long run over a period of 6-12 months, meaning that those who cannot get vaccinated for medical reasons have another option to protect themselves from the disease.
Researchers are looking at how this might work for people with a compromised immune system in another trial called Provont.
“We will be recruiting people who are elderly or in long-term care and have been diagnosed with cancer and HIV,” said Nicky L. Longley, UCLH Infectious Diseases Advisor. There are V-like conditions that can affect their immune system’s ability to respond to the vaccine. The Guardian.
“We want to reassure anyone that the vaccine doesn’t work or that we can offer an alternative that is just as protective.”
We are looking forward to seeing what leads to this.
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