Firms Racing To Develop Antibody Treatment For Covid-19

The Coronavirus COVID-19 has raged the world and has infected 8,993,659 cases and killed 469,587 (as of June 23, 2020. Source World Health Organization (WHO)). Pharma firms, scientists and governments all over the world are racing to find a cure for the virus. The entire world is waiting for the vaccine; Moderna’s mRNA vaccine will begin phase III study in July. Amidst all this, some biopharma companies are pushing to develop antibody-based treatments for the virus. Does that have any merit? Why are firms putting billions of dollars into it when vaccines are the ultimate solution? Let’s find out.

- Narayan Kulkarni

Since the start of the outbreak; researchers, pharma firms, governments all over the world are scrambling to find a treatment. From herbal medications to repurposing older drugs as potential COVID-19 therapies, anything which could possibly save lives is being tested and of course the hunt for a vaccine is on. There are 16 vaccine candidates in clinical evaluations and 125 candidates in preclinical evaluation around the world. (As of June 24, 2020. Source: WHO)

Developing a vaccine is a time-consuming process. Vaccines, on an average, take 10 years to develop. The fastest vaccine ever developed till date was approved for the mumps in 1967, took four years. The latest vaccine developed for an epidemic, Ebola vaccine, also took five years,was approved in 2019. Both the vaccines were developed by Merck.

Though the vaccine is touted as the fastest to develop, developing a vaccine that is safe, effective and producing it in large quantities that the world needs to fight a pandemic is a surmountable challenge. It is interesting to note that there is still no licensed vaccine for an earlier Coronavirus, Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Studies showed that some preliminary SARS vaccines enhanced the disease in model experiments.

That’s why the hunt is on to find the alternative treatment to save people’s lives till the vaccine arrives. And the antibody-based treatments offer an excellent hope. That’s what companies like Regeneron, Eli Lilly, Vir Biotechnology and many more from USA, Europe and Asia Pacific are working on antibodies for COVID-19.

Why antibodies?