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 HOW DO ANTIBODY THERAPIES WORK?
These therapies use antibodies generated by infected humans or
animals to fight off the disease in patients. They date back to the
late 19th century, when researchers used a serum derived from the
blood of infected animals to treat diphtheria.
For COVID-19 treatment, researchers are studying the use of
convalescent plasma and other treatments made with blood from
recently recovered patients.
More recently, scientists have developed treatments called
monoclonal antibodies -- antibodies that can be isolated and
manufactured in large quantities to treat diseases like Ebola or
cancer. Companies, like Eli Lilly and Co <LLY.N> and Regeneron
Pharmaceuticals <REGN.O> in the United States, are trying to use
this approach to develop their treatments.
Unlike convalescent plasma, manufacturers do not need a steady
supply of antibody-rich blood to produce monoclonal antibodies, so
this approach could be easier to scale up.
HOW ARE THEY DIFFERENT FROM VACCINES?
In general, the goal of a vaccine is to generate an immune response
that can prevent someone from getting ill with a disease, whereas
antibody-derived products are generally designed to treat disease.
And while some drugmakers have suggested antibody treatments can be
used prophylactically - Regeneron's Chief Scientific Officer George
Yancopoulos has said their treatment could be a bridge to a vaccine
- it could be expensive.
"You might go into nursing homes or the military and use it because
antibodies have a pretty long half life," said Dr. Betty Diamond,
Director of Molecular Medicine at the Feinstein Institutes for
Medical Research.
"You might decide that you are going to use this as a prevention in
this very high risk group, but you wouldn't do that for the whole
country."
The amount of protein in antibody drugs makes the treatment more
expensive than vaccines in general, Feng Hui, chief operating
officer at Shanghai Junshi Biosciences <1877.HK>, said.
Antibody drugs contain hundreds, or even over a thousand times more
protein than found in a vaccine shot.
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WHO IS DEVELOPING ANTIBODY THERAPIES FOR COVID-19?
Eli Lilly is collaborating with Junshi and Canadian biotech firm AbCellera
Biologics to develop different antibody treatments, both of which have started
early stage testing in humans.
Regeneron plans to start clinical studies later this month to test its antibody
cocktail treatment, which was derived from antibodies from genetically-modified
mice. It aims to have hundreds of thousands of preventative doses available "by
the end of the summer or the fall."
The CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance, which includes Japan's Takeda Pharmaceuticals
<4502.T> and CSL Behring, is working on hyperimmune globulin therapy derived
from convalescent plasma, which could offer a standardized dose of antibodies
and doesn't need to be limited to patients with matching blood types.
The Antibody Therapy Against Coronavirus (ATAC) project, funded by the European
Commission and led by Sweden's Karolinska research institute, is looking at a
similar approach as well as monoclonal antibodies. Under the project, monoclonal
antibodies extracted from convalescent plasma are now being tested on human
volunteers in Germany and on animals in Switzerland.
Britain's GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L> is working with Vir Biotechnology Inc <VIR.O>
to develop potential antibody treatments which select the best antibodies out of
the plasma.
AbbVie <ABBV.N> has also announced a collaboration to develop antibody
therapies.
Singapore's state research body A*Star is working with Japan's Chugai Pharmabody
Research on an antibody for clinical use.
(Reporting by Michael Erman; Additional reporting by Francesco Guarascio in
Brussels, Roxanne Liu in Beijing and John Geddie in Singapore; Editing by
Miyoung Kim & Simon Cameron-Moore)
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