'Elite' Antibodies from COVID-19 Survivors Used to Develop Potent Therapies

A group of immunologists, medical scientists, and virologists at the Rockefeller University (New York, NY, USA) is studying if a cure for the COVID-19 disease can be created from the antibodies of previously ill patients.

The study is one of nearly 20 COVID-19 projects that have been launched by Rockefeller researchers since early March in an effort to better understand the SARS-CoV-2 virus and speed the development of new treatments. The team’s plan is to find the so-called elite neutralizers: the minority of people who have conquered the infection so exceptionally that their antibodies have the potential to become drugs.

A similar approach has shown great potential against other viruses, including HIV, and there are promising signs even as the study is still recruiting its first waves of donors. The team has already identified a number of antibodies that are able to block the virus from interacting with its receptor. Those with the best potential will move to the next phase of the project, where the researchers will work with industry partners to produce material for clinical testing.

Upon testing plasma samples from COVID-19 patients who have recovered, the researchers found very large variation in the levels of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies. Some people have such low levels that their plasma is virtually inactive, while others have very potently neutralizing plasma. The researchers found that about 5% of volunteer donors showed high levels of potent antibodies in their plasma. Further screening this group of people is allowing researchers to sort the wheat from the chaff and identify the so-called broadly neutralizing antibodies, or bNAbs, that have the most potency.

To find the useful but elusive immune cells that make the bNAbs, the researchers use a technique which involves introducing a fluorescent viral surface protein to the blood sample. The cells that produce antibodies against the virus take the bait, and when run through a detection instrument in a single file, they stand out. Once cloned and produced for clinical use, the antibodies can be given in an injection to fight the virus in patients and prevent infection in high-risk populations such as healthcare workers. The researchers aim to begin manufacturing small batches of its most promising antibodies for testing in as little as one month.

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