Extracted Antibodies for COVID-19 Treatment: Phase 1 of Human Trials Begin

Last Monday, the American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company had carried out human trials for the world's first potential antibody treatment against COVID-19, starring an antibody called LY-CoV555.

According to a report, Lilly is one of the numerous pharmaceutical research institutions that are working on vaccines, antivirals, and other possible treatment for the coronavirus. LY-CoV555 is a an antibody that was developed by Vancouver-based biotech company AbCellera Biologics--a research company that focuses on human antibody discovery--from a fully human monoclonal antibody from the first blood sample from a COVID-19 survivor.

The drug will assess tolerability and safety in its first stages of the trial. It will then be followed by a larger study in a much more susceptible populace. Both companies have high hopes that they will be able to finalize the data results by the end of June. With this in mind, Eli Lilly is gearing up to manufacture several hundred thousand doses before the year ends.

Lilly's chief scientific officer Dr. Dan Skovronsky said:

"Until now, scientists have been trying to repurpose medicines, drugs, that were designed for new diseases to see if they work in Covid-19, but as soon as this epidemic started, we got to work making a new medicine against this disease."

READ MORE: Coronavirus Update: Companies and Their Progress on the Development of a Vaccine   

How Does LY-CoV555 Work? 

As a natural response to infection, our bodies produce antibodies that help in the prevention reinfection. What makes this type of drug advantageous is that scientists will only need to choose a specific active antibody from all the various SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. 

In their research, AbCellera used a set of technologies to find a protective antibody in the patient blood sample. They first passed the blood cells through devices that separated the immune cells into individual chambers where the cells secrete antibodies. some of these antibodies would then bind to the virus.

In just three days, AbCellera managed to gather at least 2,000 positive hits--these were antibodies that were able to bind with the virus. The researchers then extracted the RNA for individual antibodies.

In order to neutralize the virus, Lilly will administer the antibody directly onto the surface of the virus, which has spike-shaped proteins. When applied, it should block the proteins from latching on to human cells. 

One of the selected sites for testing is the New York University Grossman School of Medicine.

The director of the Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research Dr. Mark J. Mulligan explained that selected COVID-19 positive patients will be given the chance to be subjects for the cutting-edge treatment--an opportunity that could make them hope to recover quickly from the infection. After this, they will move on to non-hospitalized COVID-19 subjects, which will also include immunocompromised people such as seniors.

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