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A team from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and Lausanne University Hospital (Chuv) has discovered a monoclonal antibody in blood samples from hospitalized Covid patients that effectively neutralizes all currently known coronavirus variants. In the hamster model, administration of the antibody was shown to provide protection against coronavirus infection.
The monoclonal antibody, called P5C3, could prove to be a prophylactic agent in immunocompromised individuals who respond poorly to vaccination. The researchers report this in the journal Cell Reports. In addition, the active substance could also protect infected patients from a severe course of the disease as part of a combination therapy.
The antibody docks onto a site of the spike protein that is not susceptible to mutations, as Chuv announced on Tuesday. Accordingly, it stops the viral replication cycle and leads to the elimination of the virus by the immune system.
The researchers modified the antibody to retain its effect for between four and six months. Thus, according to the Chuv, immunocompromised individuals could be protected with two to three injections per year.
Currently, the Lausanne institutions are in talks with a start-up company that will be responsible for the production and clinical development of the antibody. Clinical trials are planned for late 2022, the release said.
- source: kurier.at/picture: pixabay.com
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