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 Researchers from the VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology in
Ghent say antibodies extracted from a llama called Winter have
blunted the virulence of coronavirus infections, including variants,
in laboratory testing.
The technology, which would supplement rather than replace vaccines
by protecting people with weaker immune systems and treating
infected people in hospital, is a potential "game-changer", said
Dominique Tersago, chief medical officer of VIB-UGent spin-off
ExeVir.
Unusually small, llama antibodies are able to bind to specific part
of the virus's protein spike and "at the moment we're not seeing
mutations of a high frequency anywhere near where the binding site
is," she said.
The antibodies also showed "strong neutralisation activity" against
the highly infectious Delta variant, she added.
Researchers expect clinical trials in healthy volunteers, started
last week in partnership with Belgian pharmaceutical company UCB,
along with those in hospitalised patients, to be similarly
effective.
Along with other llamas and members of the camel family, Winter
produces versions of conventional antibodies that are smaller, more
stable, easier to reproduce and more versatile than those of other
mammals, said VIB-UGent group leader Xavier Saelens.
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 "Their small size... allows
them to reach targets, reach parts of the virus
that are difficult to access with conventional
antibodies," he said.
The search for a COVID-19 treatment follows
studies from 2016 into llama antibodies to
counter the SARS and MERS coronaviruses.
France's Sanofi paid 3.9 billion euros ($4.6
billion) for Ablynx, a Ghent-based medical
company that specialises in llama antibody
research, in 2018.
Meanwhile Winter, whose antibodies can now be
reproduced in the lab, is enjoying retirement in
a private art and animal park in Genk.($1 =
0.8522 euros)
(Reporting by Clement Rossignol; writing by
Philip Blenkinsop)
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