A Belgian llama may save us all from COVID-19
AS scientists scramble to perfect an antiviral treatment for the coronavirus, an unlikely hero from the animal kingdom could prove useful in that hunt.
A 4-year-old female llama named Winter seems to be just the Andean beast of burden they were looking for. After being given safe versions of the SARS and MERS viruses, Winter’s blood samples showed that she had reacted by developing antibodies. This time she was injected with a protein present on the surface of the novel coronavirus, and she also developed an immune response.
The study, conducted by scientists from Belgium’s VIB-UGent center for medical biotechnology and the University of Texas at Austin, was published Tuesday in the journal Cell, with Winter central to their studies.
The antibodies isolated from Winter managed to neutralize coronavirus in lab experiments, marking a medical first, the study’s authors noted. These antibodies also appear capable of playing a role in shielding the carrier and neutralizing the threat of the virus.
Professor Xavier Saelens of VIB in Ghent told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that if it works, it would not be the first time the camel-like beast has helped out. Llamas and other members of the camel family are distinct in creating standard antibodies and smaller antibodies, with which scientists can more easily work.
“There’s already a drug on the market that came from a llama antibody,” he said, citing caplacizumab, used in the blood disorder thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Now, he believes, his team is on the threshold of another “great breakthrough” in the hunt for a treatment, this time for those caught in the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our goal is to produce an anti-viral treatment would involve directly administering these antibodies to patients,” she said, adding that the first testing on human patients could begin “before the end of the year.”