The monoclonal antibodies are the other great weapon that, together with vaccines, will give us back our lives in the course of 2021. In Great Britain the last phase of experimentation on a drug which could neutralize the development of symptoms related to Covid-19 and thus protect both who cannot be vaccinated – such as immunosuppressed people – and those who have not yet had access to public immunization programs but have come into contact with a positive.
The drug with neutralizing antibodies, to be injected to have an immediate effect and therefore very useful as an emergency treatment in hospitals or nursing homes to contain any outbreaks, could receive approval within a few months. It would also be useful in contexts or scenarios of extreme promiscuity or to be administered to those who have been in contact with a positive person but are not yet vaccinated. He developed it AstraZeneca, the same company working on the vaccine developed with the University of Oxford which should soon receive the green light from the European Medicines Agency.
Two parallel studies on the drug to neutralizing antibodies. In the first, called Storm Chaser and coordinated by Catherine Houlihan, the cocktail is being administered to volunteers who had come into contact in the previous 8-10 days with Sars-CoV-2 positive people, who would therefore not be helped by a vaccine even if it was carried out promptly, since need two doses and a few weeks to trigger immunity. The second study, on the other hand, was baptized Preovent and precisely involves immunocompromised or immunocompromised people (people who struggle with leukemia or cancer, HIV or other diseases that weaken the immune system) and is coordinated by Nicky Longley.
In short, neutralizing antibodies – at least there are ten other research programs around the world, including the one coordinated by Rino Rappuoli to Toscana Life Sciences Foundation together with the Spallanzani Institute which should give us excellent news by March and which we had talked about – they will be useful both for close contacts who are not vaccinated and for those who cannot get vaccinated. These are laboratory-selected immunoglobulins and artificially reproduced, ready to recognize the virus and fight it. By giving the body the antibodies it is supposed to produce on its own but cannot stimulate without the vaccine. From the studies in progress they will understand the effectiveness and the duration of immunity linked to these two monoclonal antibodies (baptized AZD8895 e AZD1061) isolated in this case from two Chinese patients from Wuhan al Vanderilt Vaccine Center of Nashville. It is assumed to be at least six months but probably up to 12.
The drug should be administered in one single dose and after a year it should be possible to repeat the treatment, prolonging the artificial defenses. “If we can prove that this treatment works and defends people exposed to the virus from the development of Covid-19, it would be an important addition to the arsenal of weapons developed to combat it,” explained Houlihan, a virologist at University College London Hospitals NHS trust. . The studies involve UCLH, several other British hospitals and a network of one hundred sites around the world.
The monoclonal antibodies they are biological molecules produced artificially after having identified them among the billions that our organism produces and has at its disposal, capable of neutralizing its own antigen. They recognize the virus, neutralize it and block its entry into cells. In addition to one preventive function they may indeed have one THERAPEUTIC if used at the beginning of the infection in order to limit the severity of any symptoms developed. As we said, at least a dozen groups in the world are working in this direction. Among the most promising is the RAIN-COV2 of the Regeneron company, the cocktail administered to Donald Trump, consisting of two different monoclonals (casirivimab e imdevimab). It would appear to reduce viral load, particularly in patients with high initial viral load and in negative ones. Authorized in emergency by the FDA, it cannot be used in Europe like any of the others under study.
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