Researchers Develop SARS-CoV-2 Neutralizing Antibody that Could Cure as Well as Prevent COVID-19

By HospiMedica International staff writers
Posted on 21 May 2020

A team of Chinese researchers have successfully identified multiple highly potent neutralizing antibodies against the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 from convalescent plasma by using high-throughput single-cell sequencing.

The new results of animal studies carried out by researchers at Peking University {(PKU) Beijing, China} showed that their neutralizing antibody provides a potential cure for COVID-19 as well as means for short-term prevention, making a major milestone in the fight against the pandemic.

Image: Sunney Xie (in the middle) and some members of his team (Photo courtesy of Peking University)

The researchers collected blood samples from over 60 convalescent patients, among which 14 highly potent neutralizing antibodies were selected from 8,558 antigen-binding IgG1+ clonotypes. Their most potent antibody, BD-368-2, exhibited an IC50 of 8pM and 100pM against pseudotyped and authentic SARS-CoV-2. The in vivo antiviral experiment of neutralizing antibodies using hACE2 transgenic mice model showed that BD-368-2 antibody could provide strong therapeutic efficacy and prophylactic protection against SARS-CoV-2: When the BD-368-2 antibody was injected into infected mice, virus load was decreased by ~ 2400 times; when uninfected mice were injected with BD-368-2, they were protected from the virus infection.

In addition, the researchers also obtained the 3.8Å Cryo-EM structure of a neutralizing antibody in complex with the Spike-ectodomain trimer. It revealed the antibody’s epitope overlaps with the ACE2 binding-site, which provides the structural basis of neutralization. Moreover, they showed that SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies could be selected with high efficiency based on similarities of their predicted structures to those of SARS-CoV neutralizing antibodies, hence greatly expediting the screening process. The potent neutralizing antibody could be used to develop drugs for both therapeutic intervention and prophylactic protection against SARS-CoV-2. Clinical trials are underway, and the researchers are confident of finding a cure.

“If the COVID-19 epidemic reappears in the winter, our neutralizing antibody might be available by that time,” said Sunney Xie, Director of Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Genomics at PKU.

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