Scientists from the University Hospital of Lausanne and the Federal Polytechnic School of that Swiss city (EPFL) today announced the discovery of a monoclonal antibody capable of neutralizing all the variants of COVID-19, including the Delta.
The scientific finding, published in the specialized magazine “Cell Reports”, has been achieved by isolating lymphocytes of patients with COVID-19.
The antibody is “one of the most powerful so far identified against the Coronavirus Sars-COV-2,” EPFL said in a statement.
As he explained, the antibody blocks peak proteins (which give the virus its characteristic “crown” shape) and thereby prevents pulmonary cells from infecting, which stops the process of viral replica and allows the patient’s immune system to eliminate the coronavirus
of the body.
Scientists also ensure that the new monoclonal antibody is more durable, since it provides protection for about six months, compared to three or four weeks of other antibodies.
“This makes it an interesting preventive treatment for individuals not vaccinated at risk, or for vaccinated people who have not been able to produce an immune response,” said the communiqué of the Helvetic University.
Immunocompromised patients, recipients of a transplanted organ or patients of certain types of cancer could be protected against the Coronavirus receiving two or three times a year injections of the discovered antibody, vaticinated EPFL experts.
The clinical trials of a drug based on these antibodies will begin at the end of 2022.