Scientists groups from Netherlands and Israel are claiming that they can defeat the coronavirus with help of the antibodies they have developed, a step closer to finding treatments. The same time a Dutch-led team of scientists said they managed to halt infection in a lab setting, the Israeli defence minister announced that scientists at Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) have made a significant breakthrough. The institute’s director said the antibody formula was being patented.
Defence Minister Naftali Bennett was quoted as saying report that the antibody “neutralises (the coronavirus) inside carriers’ bodies”. IIBR’s director Shmuel Shapira also said that a global manufacturer would be sought to mass-produce it.
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Scientists from Utrecht University in the Netherlands, also, have claimed to have created an antibody — 47D11 — that targets the spike protein that gives the coronavirus a crown-like shape and lets it enter human cells.
Both antibodies are said to be monoclonal, which means that it has more potent value in yielding a treatment. Both the efforts are also in initial stages.
“Such a neutralising antibody has potential to alter the course of infection in the infected host, support virus clearance or protect an uninfected individual that is exposed to the virus,” said Berend-Jan Bosch from Utrecht University was quoted as saying in a Guardian report.
The IIBR is a secretive research unit working directly under the office of Israel’s Prime Minister and works to counter biological threats against Israel. It has been taking the lead to develop treatment and a vaccine for the coronavirus.
Roughly 100 other scientist groups are in pursuit of developing a vaccine and most potential vaccines are currently in human trials.
