Researchers at the American National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Bethesda have identified two previously unknown antibodies that can neutralize the omicron strain of coronavirus. Their article was published on the medRxiv website.
The study says that we are talking about antibodies called NE12 and NA8. They were identified using a new technique developed by scientists led by Patricia Farchi from NIAD. It allows you to quickly isolate and multiply antibodies to COVID-19 from the blood of patients and evaluate their effectiveness.
Based on this method, the researchers extracted DNA strands from the immune cells of 12 patients and placed their key sites in the bacteriophage genome. Subsequently, antibody fragments began to appear in its protein shell. Scientists have prepared several hundred similar viruses and tested their ability to connect with fragments of the SARS-CoV-2 shell. As a result, they found NE12 and NA8 antibodies that effectively neutralized omicron particles. According to scientists, they are also able to cope with the variants of the coronavirus “delta”, “alpha” and “beta”.
The research participants conducted experiments on hamsters, which proved that the molecules they isolated were superior to all existing drugs based on monoclonal antibodies approved by the World Health Organization (WHO). Scientists believe that NE12 and NA8 will make it possible to create new drugs for coronavirus. According to scientists, they will be able to protect patients from severe forms of the disease.
Earlier, the head of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation Mikhail Murashko said that the risk of repeated coronavirus infection with the omicron strain increases five times.