Coronavirus, Magrini (Aifa): “With antibodies cloned from former patients, potential cure for all positives. The first tests in November”

In a Shanghai laboratory, a group of researchers isolated 381 specific nanoantibodies against Covid-19, produced by four camels immunized with a small portion of the Sars-Cov2 spike protein (the one that forms the “tips” of the virus crown and is responsible for entering human cells). Nanoantibodies are antibody fragments that form in camelids, the camel family, and llamas. The most potent of those selected in the study was then reproduced on a large scale and, according to the researchers, could be used by inhalation, so that any nasal spray, to prevent or defeat Covid 19. The research has been published in Biorxiv, an online archive of scientific articles not yet peer-reviewed (that is, the evaluation of specialists in the field that precedes publication in a scientific journal ), but does not convince the director by Aifa, Nicola Magrini: “Camel antibodies are all the rage in research laboratories, much less in the development of pharmaceuticals.”

In what sense, Director?
Nanoantibodies are easy to produce and replicate in large quantities in cell cultures, at low cost, but in humans they induce an immune response against the antibody itself. That is, we do not recognize them as ours. Furthermore, their survival is very short. All this does not bode well that they work as an effective therapy against the virus. The production of these animal antibodies is a first-generation technique, less innovative than that of the second generation using human monoclonal antibodies. The anticovid nasal spray is currently just a hypothesis, not yet proven, interesting but seems impractical and still far enough away.

So could more guarantees of success emerge with the use of human monoclonal antibodies?
Absolutely. It is a much more promising procedure that we are betting on and in which the Italian government has decided to invest. The extractive production of some animals was carried out when we could not produce monoclonal antibodies perfectly compatible with our immune system. Current science not only manages to develop human antibodies, but also identifies super-potent ones. A goal that gives us more confidence. In fact, we have seen that between 5 and 10 percent of those who take Covid do not develop antibodies, about half produce them but not in large quantities and between 20 and 30 percent produce many. And the neutralizing capacity of antibodies varies even ten, one hundred times. In practice, the immune response to SARS-Cov2 is not the same in all individuals as in the case of measles. In Siena, the research team led by Rino Rappuoli, in collaboration with the Spallanzani institute, selected the three most potent antibodies specifically directed against the virus from a sample of one hundred Covid patients. The next step will be to clone the best of these.

How will this potential cure work?
It is intended for all positive, symptomatic and other viruses. The human experimentation phase will begin in November and we will have the first data between February and March. This therapy could have, first, the added benefit of being administered directly at home by intramuscular injection, since small amounts are sufficient. No hospital infusion treatment will be necessary, so to speak.

Has monoclonal antibody treatment already proven effective against other diseases?
Monoclonals worked for Ebola. However, regulatory agencies have yet to register the humans. Hopefully this will be the first time.

There are currently around 250 vaccine candidates in the world, but only 48 of them have started the human experimentation phase. Should we have faith?
From the first results, some vaccines have been shown to guarantee an excellent immune response. The problem is that we do not know the duration of this coverage. We have no doubt that it lasts 6 months, but we still do not know if it reaches 9-12 months. Only when we are sure that the vaccine will protect the subject for 9-12 months will we breathe a great sigh of relief.

Why?
It will mean that it will be effective and durable. However, we cannot assume that two reminders are needed because it would be infeasible. Today we already have problems vaccinating 12 million people against the flu, if we think of vaccinating 20 million against Covid twice a year we cannot do it.

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