https://fox2now.com/news/drug-inspired-by-an-old-treatment-could-be-ready-by-summer-to-treat-covid-19/
Drug inspired by an old treatment could be ready by summer to treat COVID-19
Posted: May 7, 2020
(CNN) — At least five US teams have cloned antibodies to Covid-19, paving the way for cutting-edge treatments that could be what one researcher calls “an immunity bridge” before a vaccine comes along.
The treatment is monoclonal antibody therapy, and the antibodies come from people who have recovered from the novel coronavirus. Researchers then take the blood, select the most potent antibodies, and make them into a drug.
One company, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, hopes to have a treatment available to patients as early as the end of the summer…
To develop a monoclonal antibody treatment, researchers cull through thousands of antibodies to find the best ones, and then clone them potentially in unlimited amounts.
Many other illnesses are treated with monoclonal antibodies, such as various forms of cancer, HIV, asthma, lupus, multiple sclerosis and various forms of cancer, but of course there’s no guarantee it could work for Covid-19.
“One of the things about the search is it’s a little bit like finding a needle in a haystack. We’re all searching for the magical antibody that’s a silver bullet,” said Dr. James Crowe, who’s leading the Covid-19 monoclonal antibody effort at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. . .
Regeneron is hoping to start clinical trials for an antibody treatment for coronavirus in humans as soon as next month, and if everything goes right, perhaps have a treatment ready for widespread distribution by the end of the summer.
“We generated thousands of [antibodies] and then selected the most powerful and potent ones to grow up into an antibody cocktail,” said company president Dr. George Yancopoulos.
Like any treatment under development, it might not pan out. But if it does, it could treat coronavirus and possibly also prevent infection for a period of time.
“I think antibodies will be finished first, and will be the bridge toward longer immunity, which will be conferred by vaccines,” said Crowe, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center…
In mid-January, researchers at the Rockefeller University in New York City heard from the National Institutes of Health: Get to work because we hope to have coronavirus antibodies cloned by the spring.
About two months later, Rockefeller researcher Jill Horowitz (executive director of strategic operations in the immunology laboratory at Rockefeller) found herself handing out fliers outside a supermarket in New Rochelle, New York, inviting people who’d recovered from coronavirus to learn more about the Rockefeller study.
". . .Some of their stories will be told in an upcoming documentary, “Rebel Blood The Race to Cure Covid-19.” (https://www.rebelblood.co/ )
The lead scientist in Rockefeller’s monoclonal antibody effort compares it to battle, noting that convalescent plasma has been used for more than a century.
“If you’re thinking about a war, and you’re fighting a war with a drug that came out of the early part of the 20thcentury, the monoclonal antibody is like a guided nuclear warhead in comparison,” said Dr. Michel Nussenzweig, a professor at Rockefeller.
"Several other US teams also say they’ve cloned antibodies, including Vanderbilt, Regeneron, Lilly Pharmaceuticals and Distributed Bio…"
"Regeneron anticipates starting clinical trials next month and hopes to provide “hundreds of thousands of doses” to patients by the end of the summer, Yancopoulos said."
A "GUIDED NUCLEAR WARHEAD" - - - IMHO, this must be tested on the developers and their families first.