Super strong antibodies against coronavirus discovered

Not all antibodies are the same. Some are more muscular than others, and that with an enemy like the coronavirus can make a difference. For this reason, today one of the research fronts is concerned with identifying the strongest antibodies in the blood of people who have recovered from Covid. The next step is to recreate them in the laboratory and use them as therapy in the form of monoclonal antibodies. Today a group led by the University of Washington, which also includes the Sacco hospital with infectious disease specialist Massimo Galli, published in Science the discovery of two particularly muscular antibodies. Tested in hamsters, they removed Sars-Cov-2, blocking the famous spike (the tip of the crown) that the coronavirus uses to bind to human cells and the Ace2 receptor that acts as an entry latch.

While a single antibody may not be sufficient to neutralize the virus, and indeed to select for resistant strains, having at least two available can help us better handle the organism. In fact, various antibodies have also been selected in the past. At least three companies in the world are also taking lawsuits against men. Also at work are the University of Rome Tor Vergata and the Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, with scientist Rino Rappuoli, who also isolated three particularly powerful antibodies. The first treatments could arrive in spring.

“We have obtained very potent antibodies, which are in the industrial development phase and with which we hope to contribute soon to contain this pandemic”, wrote Rappuoli, microbiologist, scientific director and head of research and development of Gsk Vaccines in Rosia (Siena), in an article in the magazine ‘Magistero del Lavoro. “We always start from the blood of convalescent patients, and using very sophisticated laboratory techniques we search among millions of cells for the very rare ones that produce the antibodies that neutralize the peak of the virus.” These antibodies are then recreated in the laboratory and used as drugs.

Compared to the vaccine, monoclonal antibodies would have the advantage of being effective immediately, while the immune response stimulated by the vaccine would take a month or two and would likely need a boost after the first dose. Antibodies should be given immediately after infection (or preventively in people at high risk of infection) and would be effective immediately. At the production level, fewer doses would be needed, being indicated for sick or exposed individuals, not for the entire world population. The disadvantage, compared to the vaccine, is the quite high cost (several thousand euros compared to 10-20 euros for the vaccine) and the limited efficacy in time: only a few weeks, compared to a few months or perhaps a few years of the vaccine.

On the latter front, meanwhile, the American company Moderna has published the results of its vaccine experimentation in a cohort of older individuals: 40 volunteers over 56 years of age in a phase one trial. Data published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that the immune response is the same as that of younger volunteers, with the typical side effects of a flu shot: pain around the sting and some degree of fever. The news was not obvious, because it is known that the effectiveness of vaccines tends to decline with age. On the other hand, the Oxford vaccine trial is still on hold in the United States. After a side effect found in a volunteer on September 6, testing was resumed after a week in Britain, India and Brazil. The US, for its part, which has enrolled 30,000 of the 55,000 total volunteers in phase three (the last) of the trials, remains cautious and awaits a supplement of information from the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, manufacturer of the Oxford vaccine.