Llama antibodies dampen COVID variants in a laboratory test, according to the Belgian start-up

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GHENT, Belgium, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Flame antibodies could soon play a role in the global fight against COVID-19, if clinical trials by a Belgian biomedical start-up live up to their initial promises.

Researchers at the VIB-UGent Medical Biotechnology Center in Ghent claim that antibodies extracted from a flame called Winter have stuffed the virulence of coronavirus infections, including variants, in laboratory tests.

The technology, which would complement and not replace vaccines, protecting people with weaker immune systems and treating infected people in the hospital, is a potential “game changer,” said Dominique Tersago, chief physician at the hospital. off ExeVir from VIB-UGent.

Unusually small flame antibodies are able to bind to a specific part of the virus’s protein ear and “right now we don’t see high-frequency mutations anywhere where the binding site is,” he said. .

The antibodies also showed “strong neutralizing activity” against the highly infectious Delta variant, he added.

A flame called Winter, whose antibodies were used in the search for a treatment for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is found in a meadow in Genk, Belgium, on August 23, 2021. REUTERS / Johanna Geron

Researchers hope that clinical trials in healthy volunteers, initiated last week in collaboration with the Belgian pharmaceutical company UCB (UCB.BR), along with those of hospitalized patients, will be equally effective.

Along with other llamas and members of the camel family, Winter produces versions of conventional antibodies that are smaller, more stable, easier to reproduce, and more versatile than those of other mammals, said Xavier Saelens, leader of the VIB-UGent group. .

“Their small size … allows them to reach targets, reach parts of the virus that are difficult to access with conventional antibodies,” he said.

Research into a COVID-19 treatment follows 2016 studies on flame-retardant antibodies to counteract SARS and MERS coronaviruses. Frenchman Sanofi paid 3.9 billion euros ($ 4.6 billion) for Ablynx, a Ghent-based medical company specializing in flame antibody research, in 2018.

Meanwhile, the winter, whose antibodies can now be reproduced in the laboratory, enjoys retirement in a private art and animal park in Genk ($ 1 = 0.8522 euros)

Reports by Clement Rossignol; written by Philip Blenkinsop

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