Study finds that antibodies from people with the debilitating condition trigger similar symptoms in mice. Study finds that antibodies from people with the debilitating condition trigger similar symptoms in mice.
Sometimes in the laboratory there are unexpected results. "Previously it had been observed that autoantibodies are common in severe Covid patients, those who end up in intensive care," says Jonathan Muri, postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB, affiliated with the Università della Svizzera italiana) and co-author of the study.
Some portions of the infamous coronavirus spike remained unchanged among variants, enabling certain rare antibodies to recognize all SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Second-generation double antibody protects from SARS-CoV-2 and its tested variants
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB; Bellinzona, Switzerland), affiliated to the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) developed a second-generation double antibody that protects from SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, and all its tested variants. It also prevents the virus from mutating to resist the therapy
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Antibody-based immunotherapy was already shown to be effective against COVID-19 but faces two main obstacles: it needs to work against the circulating viral variants; it must prevent formation of new variants, that can rapidly ensue via a mechanism similar to that leading to antibiotic resistant bacteria.