Dutch scientists have found an antibody that may work against the coronavirus. It is world news, but physician-microbiologist Marc Bonten states WNL On Sunday that really remains to be seen if this can be successful. “Unfortunately, we have often seen in the past that what is very hopeful in the laboratory is really disappointing in the patients.”
Scientists in Utrecht and Rotterdam had already tested mice before the corona outbreak, which were genetically modified to produce human antibodies. In a laboratory, the mice were injected with proteins from SARS, among others, a deadly disease that circulated at the beginning of this century. SARS is the “older brother” of the new coronavirus. The mice made antibodies against the proteins to fight them. Those antibodies were stored.
When the corona crisis broke out, “we took the antibodies out of the freezer and watched them respond to the new virus,” he said. Berend–Jan Bosch, associate professor of virology at Utrecht University and leader of the research. Erasmus MC and the Harbor BioMed from Rotterdam also took part in this. They wrote about it in the scientific journal Nature Communications, after which the discovery received worldwide attention.
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“Never a pill with which all problems are gone”
“In the laboratory, this antibody works very well against the virus,” explains Bonten. “It catches the virus so that the body’s defenses can get the job done. Now it must also be examined in patients. ”
The disease is known to progress in different stages, according to the physician microbiologist. “The first, of course, is to tackle the virus as quickly as possible. But in many patients who end up in the hospital, and have therefore not yet had any medicines, we often see that the immune system has run wild and that it is causing the problems. Then it is no longer tackling the virus, but controlling the runaway immune system. So it will never be a pill to get rid of all the problems. ”
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“As far as four months ago”
Bonten hopes it will work. “We have been in the crisis for four months now and we are as far as we started with regard to treatment.” If it all works out with the new medicine, there is still a process of one and a half years before it reaches people on a large scale.
For example, the antibody must be tested further. Only then does it become clear whether the medicine works in humans, whether there are side effects and how long the antibody would provide protection. The virologists are talking to biopharmaceutical companies to see if they can market it.
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“Not the solution, but perhaps a contribution”
Marc Bonten himself is researching a hundred-year-old vaccine that protects against tuberculosis to see if that can help against the coronavirus. “We rolled out two studies in the Netherlands. We believe that the old TB vaccine shakes up the immune system a bit, so that people in the two or three years after the vaccine would also be extra protected against other infections. ”
This is now being investigated with 1500 care workers and 2000 elderly people. “Half of them received a vaccine and the other half received a placebo. Those people register with an app, every day or every week, whether they are sick. In this way we hope to see whether that vaccine actually offers protection. And it is nice to see that the same type of research is now also underway in fifteen other countries. Everyone has jumped a bit on that concept and perhaps that this can contribute. It will not be the solution, but perhaps a contribution. ”
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By: Bert van Doorn
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