A broadly neutralizing antibody has been developed capable of targeting multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants, ranging from the original Wuhan strain to recent variants such as XBB.1, XBB.1.5, XBB.1.9, XBB.1.16, JN.1, and KS.1. The development was carried out by specialists from the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, in collaboration with the Federal Research Center for Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, TASS reports, citing the press service of the Institute of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The results of the study were published in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules. The main advantage of the new drug is its high efficacy even at low concentrations, making it a promising candidate for treating severe forms of COVID-19.
The study was based on immunizing a double-humped camel, which produced specialized nanoantibodies—lacking light protein chains, making them smaller and capable of penetrating deeper into cells to effectively block the virus.
The authors tested the 1p1B10 camel nanoantibody, developed through their experiment, and found that it can prevent infection in Syrian hamster cells and a specialized line of mice, even at extremely low concentrations. The nanoantibody effectively neutralizes the effects of lethal doses of various virus variants.
The development by Russian scientists could represent a significant advance in the treatment of coronavirus infections, especially given the ongoing mutations of the virus.
Earlier it was reported that researchers at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk have developed a novel antiviral agent derived from interferon lambda, a protein that plays a key role in the body’s antiviral defense mechanisms. The obtained results provide a foundation for further clinical trials and may contribute to the development of a new drug based on domestic pharmaceutical innovations to combat viral infections, including coronavirus.