ANTIBODY TREATMENT FOR CORONAVIRUS
Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-produced molecules engineered to serve as substitute antibodies that can restore, enhance or mimic the immune system’s attack on cancer cells. They are designed to bind to antigens that are generally more numerous on the surface of cancer cells than healthy cells.
Lilly’s coronavirus antibody treatment shows modest signs it may treat infection
Eli Lilly and Co. has reported that a trial of an antibody therapy shows it is safe and may reduce some symptoms of coronavirus disease.
It’s one of several monoclonal antibodies being tested in coronavirus patients. Monoclonal antibodies are lab-engineered immune system particles designed to home in on specific parts of whatever you are targeting. They have been used with some success in treating cancer as well as viruses. With cancer, cells are used to create antibodies against them. These are multiplied in the lab and then given back to patients. The antibodies attach to the cancer cells, our own immune system recognizes them as foreign (something the cancer cells were able to evade and thus grow) and then they are targeted and destroyed. In the case of SARS Cov-2, LY-CoV555, the monoclonal antibody being tested, targets the spike protein of the virus, the part it uses to attach to the cells it infects. The spike protein is what gives this virus it’s name, “Corona”, like the spikes of a crown. Similarly to cancer treatments, our own immune system then recognizes them as foreign and attacks, or “neutralizes” them,
This Phase 2 trial involved only about 450 volunteers with coronavirus infections, but it did show nearly everyone had cleared the virus by 11 days. Although people given the placebo (sugar pill) also developed antibodies and recovered, the highest dose of antibody significantly sped up the process of clearing the virus. No one needed help breathing using a ventilator, and no one who got placebo or treatment died.
There was a 72% reduction in hospitalization rates among those treated, but only a very few people were hospitalized. The patients who got the antibody were 3 times less likely to be hospitalized, compared to those on placebo. Most study hospitalizations occurred in patients with underlying risk factors (age or BMI), suggesting a more pronounced treatment effect for patients in these higher-risk groups.
LY-CoV555 was well-tolerated, with no drug-related serious adverse events reported.
Although this is still early in the study with relatively small numbers of patients, the news is promising.
Using such neutralizing antibodies can help in the fight against COVID-19 but again, it is one more thing in our arsenal to treat this disease, and prevention is still key.
Stay Safe
AC 😎✌️🌱❤🐖🏃🏻🧘🏻♂️🌎😷