Coronavirus: antibody found in Sars patient could help fight Covid-19, US study says
- ‘S309’ shown to have a strong ability to bind to and disable the Sars-CoV-2 spike protein, researchers at University of Washington School of Medicine say
- Clinical trials of two drug candidates, which are genetically engineered versions of S309, expected to begin this summer
Researchers from the University of Washington school of medicine in Seattle said that the antibody, which they call S309, showed a strong ability to bind to and disable the spike protein of Sars-CoV-2, the formal name for the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.
“The spike glycoprotein is the building block in the virus that makes its entry into target cells and is also the main target of neutralising antibodies upon infection,” said David Veesler, an assistant professor of biochemistry at the school and one of the study’s lead authors.
The discovery could make it possible to use S309 on its own or as part of an “antibody cocktail” as a preventive measure for people at high risk of exposure to the virus or as a treatment for severe cases, the researchers said in a paper published on Monday in the scientific journal Nature.
However, they acknowledged that the study was only conducted in lab dishes and that much more research was needed to show whether S309 would be effective at counteracting the coronavirus in humans.
