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Brazilian scientists create serum with horse antibodies capable of neutralizing COVID-19

14/08/2020

A serum entirely developed in Brazil showed neutralizing antibodies up to 50 times more potent against Sars-CoV-2 than those present in the blood plasma of people who had COVID-19. The result was considered excellent by the scientists who developed the product and paves the way for a more efficient treatment against the disease. The researchers await authorization from the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) to begin testing the serum in humans.

Plasma from people who have had COVID is already being used to treat the disease, as a way to offer extra antibodies to patients who are still struggling to fight the virus. The serum principle is similar.

The difference is that it is being produced on horses and, according to the first results, it is much more potent. These antibodies are then purified and can be injected into patients.

“We have to do everything very carefully so as not to create false illusions”, pondered the president of the Rio Research Foundation (Faperj), Jerson Lima Silva, who is a researcher at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and participated in the project. “But the response was impressive, well above our expectations.”

The work will be submitted for publication on Thursday, 13, in a scientific session at the National Academy of Medicine (ANM). On the same occasion, Lima Silva, who is a researcher at UFRJ and participates in the project, will announce the filing of a serum patent.

In May, five horses from the Vital Brazil Institute (IVB) were inoculated with a recombinant S protein from the coronavirus produced at Coppe / UFRJ. After 70 days, the plasmas of four animals showed antibodies 20 to 50 times more potent against COVID-19. The fifth animal also showed antibodies but in a smaller volume.

“We are all thrilled with the result”, said the president of Instituto Vital Brazil, Adilson Stolet. “It was very good, excellent, wonderful.”

According to Lima Silva, one of the reasons for obtaining such a good immune response, both in terms of detected antibodies and its ability to kill the virus, is that scientists used an entire recombinant protein and not just fragments.

The protein S produced at the Cell Culture Engineering Laboratory at Coppe / UFRJ also led to the development of a new serological test for the detection of antibodies to COVID-19.

Serotherapy is a successful treatment, used for decades against diseases such as rabies and tetanus and also for the bites of bees, snakes and other venomous animals, such as spiders and scorpions. Serums produced by IVB have excellent results for clinical use, with no history of hypersensitivity or other possible adverse reactions.

“One of the advantages is precise that we have been using serums for a century, such as anti-phage and anti-tetanus,” said Adilson Stolet. “Not to mention the volume of plasma that can be produced. We have 300 animals, but we can buy another 500; in two months we would have an enormous amount of antibodies.”

As it is a well-known technology, the researchers hope to be able to skip the pre-clinical testing phase and go straight to testing with humans. There is already a partnership signed with the DOr Research and Teaching Institute (IDOR) for testing.

“Even if we do not achieve 100% efficiency, it could be a strategy to also combine this therapy with the vaccine”, concluded Lima Silva.

News from: UOL

News

MSF calls for patents not to be created on treatments and vaccines against the new coronavirus

01/04/2020

The international humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) this weekend called for no patents to be granted and no speculation about drugs, tests or vaccines developed to combat the Covid-19 pandemic caused by the new coronavirus. They also asked governments to prepare to suspend and replace patents and take other measures, such as price controls, to ensure availability, reduce prices and save more lives.

Canada, Chile, Ecuador and Germany have already taken steps to facilitate patent replacement by granting “compulsory licenses” for medicines, vaccines and other medical tools to Covid-19. Likewise, the Israeli government granted a compulsory license for patents on a drug they were investigating for use against the disease.

After intense criticism from civil society groups and MSF, the pharmaceutical corporation Gilead has just renounced a special designation from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that would allow prolonged monopoly control over 20 years of patents applied for in more than 70 countries for its potential candidate for Covid-19 treatment, remdesivir. Preliminary results from clinical trials using remdesivir to treat Covid-19 are expected in April. However, Gilead has not yet committed to not applying its patents globally.

MSF is deeply concerned about access to future drugs, tests and vaccines against the new coronavirus in places where MSF works and in other countries affected by this pandemic. The organization asks governments to prepare to suspend or replace Covid-19’s medical tool patents by issuing mandatory licenses. Removing patents and other barriers is critical to helping ensure that there are enough suppliers selling at prices everyone can afford.

American diagnostic test maker Cepheid offers another example of pandemic profit. The company has just received the US FDA Emergency Use Authorization for a rapid Covid-19 test (Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2) that provides results in just 45 minutes, using existing test machines that have been routinely used for tuberculosis, HIV and other diseases.

Cepheid has just announced that it will charge $ 19.80 per test in developing countries, including the poorest countries in the world, where people live on less than $ 2 a day. Research from MSF and other institutions on Cepheid’s tuberculosis test – which uses a similar tuberculosis test cartridge, for which the corporation charges $ 10 in developing countries – shows that the cost of products, including manufacturing, overhead and other expenses for each cartridge is $ 3, so each test can be sold at a profit for half the price: $ 5.

MSF warned that high prices and monopolies will result in the rationing of medicines, tests and vaccines, which will result in the prolongation of this pandemic.

News from: Paranashop