Coronavirus

Brazilian researchers working to create antibodies to fight Covid-19

Brazilian researchers working to create antibodies to fight Covid-19

Researchers from the Butantan Institute in São Paulo are working on developing a product made from antibodies of recovered Covid-19 patients to help combat the diseases. These so-called “neutralizing monoclonal antibodies” are extracted from the blood plasma of people who have been cured of the virus, and the idea is that the proteins may be used to latch on to Covid-19 strains and neutralize them.

The project is part of a larger initiative to create monoclonal antibodies to fight a number of different diseases, having already reached advanced development stages to combat zika and tetanus. 

There are over 70 pharmaceutical products available for clinical use around the world that contain monoclonal antibodies, used to fight diseases such as ebola and cancer. The hope is that this could be a potential treatment for Covid-19, but lead researcher Ana Maria Moro admits that “it will be a long process.”