Vaccine wars escalate as new antibody escape variants raise the bar

When a new mutation within the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD) emerges that a particular antibody can no longer neutralyze, it is often called an escape variant. With the rapid identification of these new variants within the infected population, and also in lab-generated versions of the spike protein, an exhaustive escape variant matrix […]

Researches announce successful intra-neuronal antibody delivery without a viral vector

CytoDel, Inc., a privately-held corporation, today announces the publication of preclinical data on the company’s lead product, Cyto-111, in the peer-reviewed journal, Science Translational Medicine. Cyto-111 was conceived, expressed and purified in the laboratory of Konstantin Ichtchenko, Ph.D., NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, who was a principal investigator in […]

Antibody testing likely undercounts past covid infections by 28%

Antibody testing likely undercounts the number of people who have had COVID-19: More than 25% of infected health care workers had NO signs of it in their blood work 60 days later CDC researchers found that 6% of more than 3,000 health care workers they tested had antibodies to coronavirus  Within 60 days, when they […]

Lilly Announces Arrangement for Supply of Potential COVID-19 Antibody Therapy for Low- and Middle-Income Countries

INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as part of the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, have entered into an agreement to facilitate access to future Lilly therapeutic antibodies under development for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus, to […]

Researchers advance COVID-19 antibody knowledge

Researchers at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center working with colleagues at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston have found that some antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, are more protective than others, when it comes to reinfection. This information, discovered from the joint study and published online in the Journal of […]

Antibody study suggests more lasting immunity against COVID than believed

(HealthDay)—In a finding that should encourage scientists who are racing to develop coronavirus vaccines, a new study out of Iceland suggests that immunity to the disease may not be as fleeting as first thought. Among 30,000 Icelandic residents who were tested for antibodies to COVID-19, researchers discovered the antibodies stayed in people’s systems for at […]

US announces clinical trial of antibody treatment for COVID-19

The US has begun late stage clinical trials into a drug formulated to fight COVID-19, officials said Tuesday. The medicine is an antibody against the new coronavirus called LY-CoV555, which was identified in the blood sample of a recovered patient by Canada’s Abcellera Biologics. It was then developed synthetically for mass production by US-based Lilly […]

Scientists discover key element of strong antibody response to COVID-19

A team led by scientists at Scripps Research has discovered a common molecular feature found in many of the human antibodies that neutralize SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The scientists, whose study appears July 13 in Science, reviewed data on nearly 300 anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies that their labs and others have found in convalescent COVID-19 […]

How do COVID-19 antibody tests differ from diagnostic tests?

Q: I’ve heard about new antibody testing for COVID-19. What is antibody testing? Is it the same as testing to diagnose COVID-19? A: With all the talk about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing in the news, it’s not surprising that there’s confusion about tests and how they differ. Antibody testing determines whether you had COVID-19 […]