Second-generation double antibody shields from SARS-CoV-2 and its tried variations

Overview

• Post By : Kumar Jeetendra


• Source: University of Italian Switzerland


• Date: 25 Jan,2021

Additionally, it prevents the virus from mutating to resist the treatment .

Antibody-based immunotherapy was already proven to work against COVID-19 but faces two chief obstacles: it requires to work against the circulating viral variants; it has to avoid formation of new variants, that can rapidly ensue using a mechanism similar to that leading to antibiotic resistant bacteria.

We solved the problem by joining two natural antibodies into a single artificial molecule, known as’bispecific antibody’, that targets two separate viral sites simultaneously.

Pre-clinical trials demonstrated that this bispecific antibody potently neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, including the recent UK one circulating in Switzerland and Europe with greater spread.

The bispecific, but not first-generation radicals, prevents the virus from changing its structure to evade therapy. The high bispecific potency and its overall characteristics make it an ideal candidate for human clinical trials, with good odds of employment both for prevention and therapy of COVID-19.

“We exploited our knowledge of the molecular structure and biochemical traits of the virus to fuse together two human antibodies, obtaining a single bispecific molecule simultaneously attacking the virus in two independent sites critical for infectivity. Supercomputing simulations allowed us to refine and validate the bispecific antibody design, which was later produced and tested in the laboratory. Although the virus can mutate and escape from the attack of a single first-generation antibody, we have shown that it cannot do so against the double action of the bispecific.”

Luca Varani, Group Leader at IRB and Author of Scientific Work, Università della Svizzera italiana

Davide Robbiani, IRB manager and co-author of their scientific work, commented:” IRB and Ticino consolidate their position among the world leaders in antibody discovery and development, especially against emerging and neglected infectious diseases. Regardless of the limited resources, compared to big-pharma, we achieved our goals in just a couple months’.

“A single injection of the bispecific antibody offers immediate protection against the disease in pre-clinical trials. The antibody effectively reduces viral burden in the lungs and mitigates inflammation typical of COVID-19”, said Daniel Ruzek from the Czech Academy of Sciences who led the antibody pre-clinical testing.