Researchers have identified a “potent” mixture of antibodies that could be used together as a “cocktail” to help to treat Covid-19 infections and protect people who are at risk from the disease.
Researchers believe that they could soon be at the stage where mass-manufacture of them by pharmaceutical companies is a viable option, in order to infuse them into the blood of those fighting the disease and help them to survive.
The researchers found 61 types of antibodies that when used in unison provide a much better chance of neutralising Covid-19/
David Ho, Professor of Medicine at Columbia University and Research Lead on the project said: “It shut off infectious virus completely in the lung tissue of the hamsters we treated.
“We specifically isolated very potent antibodies that can be mass produced and then administered,” Ho said. “We would assume that these could be used to prevent or treat Sars-Cov-2. We’d be looking to treat early in the course of infection, particularly those at risk of developing severe disease such as the elderly and those with underlying illness.”
“In terms of prevention, these could certainly substitute for vaccines, and again we’d be looking at the most vulnerable, for example, nursing home residents.”