Searching for a coronavirus cure in the blood

Abstract

The blood of people who have recovered from COVID-19 may be the world’s most sought-after substance right now. It contains a stockpile of antibodies made by immune cells that have successfully mounted an attack on the invading virus, SARS-CoV-2. While multiple efforts are focusing on repurposing existing drugs, like remdesivir or chloroquine, to fight this new virus, many scientists think that the fastest route to novel therapies specifically designed to treat the infection could come by harvesting those antibodies. These antibody-based therapies could take many forms. The simplest, and the only that is already being tested in people with COVID-19, is convalescent plasma, the antibody-rich portion of blood donated from someone who recovered from the disease. At the other end of the spectrum, companies are meticulously analyzing plasma from recovered humans or immunized animals to select the very best antibodies, which they can use to manufacture traditional monoclonal antibody therapies. These approaches, and others in between, are barreling toward the clinic at a pandemic pace.