StemCell Therapy

Highlights

This antibody component, which is 10 times smaller than a full-sized antibody, has been used to construct a drugknown as Ab8for potential use as a therapeutic and prophylactic against SARS-CoV-2.

The researchers report today in the journal Cellthat Ab8 is highly effective in preventing and treating SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice and hamsters.

Its tiny size not only increases its potential for diffusion in tissues to better neutralize the virus, but also makes it possible to administer the drug by alternative routes, including inhalation.

Importantly, it does not bind to human cellsa good sign that it wont have negative side-effects in people.

Ab8 was evaluated in conjunction with scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston, as well as the University of British Columbia and University of Saskatchewan.

Ab8 not only has potential as therapy for the pandemic, but it also could be used to keep people from getting SARS-CoV-2 infections, said co-authorJohn Mellors, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Pitt and UPMC. Antibodies of larger size have worked against other infectious diseases and have been well tolerated, giving us hope that it could be an effective treatment for patients with the disease and for protection of those who have never had the infection and are not immune. Xianglei Liu of Pitt is also co-lead author.

Wei Li, assistant director of Pitts Center for Therapeutic Antibodies and co-lead author of the research, sifted through antibody components and found multiple therapeutic antibody candidates in record time. (UPMC)

The tiny antibody component is the variable, heavy chain (VH) domain of an immunoglobulin, which is a type of antibody found in the blood. It was found by fishing in a pool of more than 100 billion potential candidates using the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein as bait.

Ab8 is created when the VH domain is fused to part of the immunoglobulin tail region, adding the immune functions of a full-size antibody without the bulk.

Like the Pitt and UPMC vaccine candidatePittCoVaccthat delivers an immunization through a spiky Band-Aid-like patch and overcomes the need for needles and refrigeration, the researchers are thinking outside the box when it comes to how Ab8 could be administered.

Its small size might allow it to be given as an inhaled drug or intradermally, rather than intravenously through an IV drip, like most monoclonal antibodies currently in development.

Abound Bio, a newly formed UPMC-backed company, has licensed Ab8 for worldwide development.

Dimiter Dimitrov, senior author of the Cell publication and director of PittsCenter for Antibody Therapeutics, was one of the first to discover neutralizing antibodies for the original SARS coronavirus in 2003. In the ensuing years, his team discovered potent antibodies against many other infectious diseases, including those caused by MERS-CoV, dengue, Hendra and Nipah viruses. The antibody against Hendra and Nipah viruses has been evaluated in humans and approved for clinical use on a compassionate basis in Australia.

Clinical trials are testing convalescent plasmawhich contains antibodies from people who already had the pandemicas a treatment for those battling the infection, but there isnt enough plasma for those who might need it, and it isnt proven to work.

Thats why Dimitrov and his team set out to isolate the gene for one or more antibodies that block the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which would allow for mass production.

The pandemic is a global challenge facing humanity, but biomedical science and human ingenuity are likely to overcome it, said Mellors, also Distinguished Professor of Medicine, who holds the Endowed Chair for Global Elimination of HIV and AIDS at Pitt. We hope that the antibodies we have discovered will contribute to that triumph.

This research was funded by National Institutes of Health grants, as well as UPMC; the Burroughs Wellcome Fund; a Canada Excellence Research Chair Award; Genome BC, Canada; Canadian Institutes for Health Research; and Canadian Foundation for Innovation.

To learn more about this research,watch a livestream on Sept. 15 at 2 p.m. ET.

Originally posted here:
AB8 Nano Sized Antibody - the Next Big Thing in Pandemic Prevention & Cure - Drew Reports News

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