A monoclonal antibody that can overpower coronavirus in the lab has been produced by scientists, which is being said is one among the several important steps forward in the treatment and curtailing of the fatal disease. As per reports, the virus in cell cultures has been neutralized by the experimental antibody. Published in the journal, Nature Communications, (the antibody which is still in its early drug development process, even before any animal research or human trial has been conducted), the study said it may help in preventing or treating COVID-19 and other diseases related to it. The study states that this may be done either singularly or as a drug combination in the future.
Berend-Jan Bosch of Utrecht University in the Netherlands along with his colleagues wrote about their findings in the journal saying a lot more research needs to be conducted to identify if they can be established as a final solution in a clinical setting and as to how precisely the antibody can defeat the virus. Being called 47D11, the antibody attacks the spike protein, which gives the novel coronavirus its crown-like shape and allows it to gain access into human cells.
The study also mentioned that the antibody had not only defeated the virus responsible for COVID-19 in the Utrecht experiments, but also its cousin, which as well is stocked with indistinguishable spike proteins, that leads to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS. Bosch and colleagues wrote in their study, "Monoclonal antibodies targeting vulnerable sites on viral surface proteins are increasingly recognized as a promising class of drugs against infectious diseases and have shown therapeutic efficacy for a number of viruses,".