E-Paper
Lab-grown antibodies could block Sars-Cov-2 virus: Scientists
Scientists in the Netherlands and Israel have separately created antibodies in the lab that can neutralise Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, to prevent human cells from getting infected.
Lab-grown antibodies have been shown evidence of blocking the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the Netherlands and Israel, and could emerge as a critical new tool to stop the spread of the infection.
Scientists in the Netherlands and Israel have separately created antibodies in the lab that can neutralise Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, to prevent human cells from getting infected.
Monoclonal antibodies are man-made proteins that act like natural antibodies and that work by identifying and binding to the virus to destroy it.
The antibodies stopped infection in human cells in the lab, reported Dutch scientists in the journal, Nature Communications, on the same day as Israel’s defence minister announced a government-run research centre had developed antibodies to “neutralise” coronavirus in pre-clinical trials.
“Monoclonal antibodies are an established cancer therapy that works against specific types of cancers, such as cancers of the breast and blood. Herceptin, for example, is a monoclonal antibody that has been successfully used as targeted therapy for the treatment of breast cancers for at least two decades. It acts by blocking the HER2-neu receptor to prevent the spread of the cancer,” said SVS Deo, head of surgical oncology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is a protein that promotes the growth of cancer cells.
In the absence of a vaccine and an effective targeted therapy for Covid-19, monoclonal therapeutics offers a new therapy modality. Dutch researchers have identified a monoclonal antibody against Sars-CoV-2.
“Here we report a human monoclonal antibody that neutralizes Sars-CoV-2 (and Sars-CoV) in cell culture. This cross-neutralising antibody targets a communal epitope on these viruses and may offer potential for prevention and treatment of Covid-19,” said researchers from the Netherlands in Nature Communications. An epitope is a part of the virus that is recognised and targeted by the immune system, specifically by antibodies, B cells, or T cells.
“The monoclonal antibody treatment against Sars-CoV2 is promising but needs extensive and robust human trials to establish whether it stops Covid-19 infection and helps patients recover,” said Deo.
Israel has said trials and regulatory approvals will be tracked to have a therapy ready in several months based on the monoclonal antibodies developed by the state-run Israel Institute for Biological Research in Ness Ziona in central Israel.
There is no cure for Covid-19 and the treatment largely depends on repurposed drugs, such as anti-malarial drugs such as hydroxychloroquine and chloroquinine, and antivirals such as remdesivir and favipiravir.
At least 120 vaccines are in various stages of development, with researchers using diverse platforms in the race to develop a vaccine that prevents infection and/or severe disease within a year.
