Llama antibody has “potential” as a Covid treatment

Studies suggest that the small antibodies produced by llamas may provide a new front-line treatment for coronavirus in the form of a nasal spray.

Scientists at the Rosalind Franklin Institute have discovered that Nanobodies (smaller, simpler forms of antibodies produced by llamas and camels) can effectively target the Covid-19-causing Sars-CoV-2 virus. bottom.

Studies have shown that short chains of molecules that can be produced in large quantities in the laboratory significantly reduced the signs of Covid-19 when given to infected animal models.

Nanobodies may bind tightly to the virus, neutralize the virus in the laboratory, and provide a cheap and easy alternative to human antibodies recovered from Covid-19 patients.

Human antibodies have been used in severe cases during a pandemic, but usually need to be injected through a needle in a hospital.

Professor Miles Carroll, Deputy Director of the National Infectious Diseases Service of the British Public Health Services (PHE), said:

“These are one of the most effective Sars-CoV-2 neutralizers we have ever tested on PHE.

“We believe that the unique structure and strength of Nanobodies offers great potential for both prevention and treatment of Covid-19, and we look forward to working together to advance this study into clinical research. “

Professor Ray Owens, head of protein production at the Rosalind Franklin Institute and lead author of the study, said:

“They are inexpensive to manufacture and can be delivered directly to the airways via a nebulizer or nasal spray, allowing them to be self-administered at home without the need for injections.

“This may have benefits in terms of patient usability, but it can also treat the infected area of ​​the respiratory tract directly.”

Researchers were able to generate Nanobodies by injecting some of the spike proteins into a llama called fifi, which is part of the University of Reading’s antibody production facility.

Peplomers are located outside the virus and bind to human cells to allow them to infect.

The injection did not make Fifi sick, but they caused her immune system to fight off viral proteins by producing Nanobodies against it.

Taking a small blood sample from the llama, researchers were able to purify four Nanobodies that could bind the virus.

Next, we bound Nanobodies to three strands to increase their ability to bind to viruses. These were then produced in laboratory cells.

This study found that three Nanobody chains can neutralize both the original and alpha mutants of the Covid-19 virus.

The fourth nanobody chain was able to neutralize the beta variant.

When one of the Nanobody chains was given to a virus-infected hamster, the animals showed a marked reduction in disease.

Hamsters treated with Nanobodies also had lower lung and respiratory tract viral load after 7 days than untreated animals.

Researchers say the results are the first step in developing a new type of treatment for Covid-19 that may prove to be invaluable as the pandemic continues. increase.

Professor James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, who led the study, said: There remains a risk of new variants emerging that can circumvent vaccine immunity. “

A research team that includes scientists from the University of Liverpool, Oxford University, and the UK Public Health Services is now hoping to get funding to prepare for human clinical research.

With funding from the Medical Research Council and the Institute of Engineering and Physical Sciences, the EPA Cephalosporin Foundation and Welcome, they also quickly adapt the nanobody technology they have developed to fight. We hope to be able to form so-called platform technologies that can be done. Other illnesses.

The survey results are published in the journal Nature Communication.