A study of Labio 4.0 of Pomezia and of the University of Rome Tor Vergata with the support of Alfasigma
Thanks to the blood of ten doctors and health workers from the Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo, a new synthetic anti-Covid 19 antibody that can be inhaled as an aerosol has been obtained, which represents an absolute novelty compared to those previously available only for injectables. The all-Italian study, which describes inhalable human antibody fragments effective against Sars-CoV-2, has just been published in the scientific journal Molecular Therapy and is the result of the work of a group of researchers from the Labio 4.0 Marino Golinelli multi-purpose research and development center in Pomezia of the Italian company Alfasigma and the Department of Biolog
The Sos launched from Bergamo: “We were in contact with the Bergamo hospital for cancer projects and during the pandemic they asked us to try to find solutions”, they say Rita De Santis e Olga Minenkova of the Biotechnology laboratory of Pomezia. “We thus received ten blood donations from doctors and health workers who survived Covid-19, each with a different disease history”.
At this point the collaboration with Tor Vergata also begins: “We have provided the Alfasigma Biotechnology group with a reagent useful for the expression of the Spike protein of Sars-CoV-2 that we had just obtained from China and selected the most effective antibodies in blocking the entry of the virus into human cells, ”he explains Maria Gabriella Santoro, full professor of Virology at the Tor Vergata University of Rome.
The selection: Once the three donors who had developed a more effective immune response against the virus were identified, the researchers used their blood to isolate genes that code for antibodies. “We have thus identified six antibodies capable of neutralizing the Spike protein, preventing the virus from entering cells – continue the researchers De Santis and Minenkova -. In mice infected with the pseudovirus, the infection was no longer measurable after 48 hours from the administration of the antibody while in mice that had not received the antibody or had received an inactive antibody used as a control, the infection continued to increase ” .
The effectiveness against all variants and the “inhalable” formula: In the study just published on Molecular Therapy these synthetic ‘mini-antibodies’ have been studied for their properties to inhibit virus binding to cells and for their ability to counteract virus infection in both cell and animal models. “The study in fact – explains Santoro – shows that this antibody recognizes a portion of the Spike which is essential for the virus to enter cells. It would thus be able to counteract, even at very low doses, all the variants of the Spike known at the time of the study and the infection in the airways by administration in the nasal cavities “.
“Our competitive advantage lies in the fact that we have selected only the strongest and most resistant antibodies, therefore suitable for use in aerosols – adds De Santis -. The possibility of such easy administration, compared to intravenous administration, and the effectiveness at very low doses is revolutionary because it would allow a sort of ‘self-management’ of the patient with a reduction in hospital costs as well “.
I prossimi step: From this Italian study to the arrival of the development of an antibody that can be inhaled and is effective, how much time will pass? “Generally, the development of a new drug takes several years to reach clinical use. However, during this pandemic the times of production, testing and approval have been greatly reduced due to the emergency, as has also been seen for the production and use of vaccines ”, concludes Santoro. Now the researchers are awaiting the efficacy results on Omicron as well, which already appear to be very promising.