Israel claims a “significant advance” towards a treatment for Covid-19 after isolating a key coronavirus antibody at its main biological research laboratory, the defense minister said Monday night.
Israel is one of many countries vying to find a cure or vaccine for Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus that emerged in China in December.
The “monoclonal neutralizing antibody” developed at the Israel Biological Research Institute (IIBR) “can neutralize it [the disease-causing coronavirus] inside the bodies of the carriers, “Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement. He added that Bennett visited IIBR on Monday where he was informed” of a significant advance in the search for an antidote to the coronavirus. “
Coronavirus around the Middle East
Iraqi soldiers stand guard on a street, enforcing a curfew imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the holy fast month of Ramadan in Baghdad, Iraq. REUTERS
A boy dives into the rocks as youth cool off by the warm weather water on a beach off the Mediterranean coast of Libya’s capital Tripoli, despite a crash due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. AFP
Kuwaiti citizens arrive at Kuwait International Airport, south of the capital, Kuwait City, after authorities drew up a repatriation plan for stranded citizens abroad, during the new pandemic coronavirus crisis. AFP
Employees work at the Saudi Arabian National Health Emergency Operations Center (NHEOC) in the capital Ryadh, during the new pandemic coronavirus crisis. AFP
An employee works at the Saudi Arabian National Health Emergency Operations Center (NHEOC) in the capital Ryadh during the new pandemic coronavirus crisis. AFP
People walk and exercise on the Beirut promenade, along the Mediterranean Sea, during the coronavirus pandemic in Beirut, Lebanon. Taking advantage of the warm spring weather, people who have been under lockdown for weeks headed to the corniche a day before the government begins easing coronavirus restrictions on Monday. AP photo
A man welcomes his friend after weeks of a national blockade to curb the spread of the coronavirus while playing paddleball on the Beirut seafront promenade along the Mediterranean Sea during the coronavirus pandemic in Beirut, Lebanon. AP photo
The men ride horses in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea near the port of Tripoli, the capital of Libya, while cooling off in the hot weather despite a blockade due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. AFP
An Iraqi woman wearing a protective mask passes a checkpoint after the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during the holy fast month of Ramadan in Baghdad, Iraq. REUTERS
People gather near trucks after the border between Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran was partially reopened for the first time since the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the border between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan in the province. from Halabja, Iraq. REUTERS
Health workers prepare to perform fumigation in an area of the coastal city of Aden in southern Yemen, as part of a campaign to prevent insect-borne diseases amid the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. AFP
A health worker fumigates in an area of the coastal city of Aden in southern Yemen as part of a campaign to prevent insect-borne diseases amid the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. AFP
He quoted IIBR director Shmuel Shapira as saying the antibody formula was being patented, after which an international manufacturer would be sought to mass-produce it.
IIBR has led Israeli efforts to develop a treatment and vaccine for coronavirus, including blood testing of those who recovered from Covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus.
The antibodies in such samples, proteins of the immune system that are residues of the successful overcoming of the coronavirus, are widely considered to be the key to developing a possible cure.
The antibody reported to have been isolated from IIBR is monoclonal, meaning that it was derived from a single recovered cell and therefore has a potentially more potent value for producing a treatment.
Elsewhere, coronavirus treatments have been developed from antibodies that are polyclonal or derived from two or more cells of different ancestry, the journal Science Direct reported in its May issue.
Israel was one of the first countries to close its borders and impose increasingly stringent restrictions on movements to hinder the outbreak of the domestic coronavirus. It has reported 16,246 cases and 235 deaths from the disease.
