Zydus Cadila’s monoclonal antibody cocktail viable for preventive usage in early Covid patients

According to a research by the Indian Council of Medical Research – National Institute of Virology, a novel monoclonal antibody (mAb) cocktail appears to be a viable option for preventive usage and therapy in early Covid-19 patients that have not progressed to severe illness.

According to a research by the Indian Council of Medical Research – National Institute of Virology, a novel monoclonal antibody (mAb) cocktail appears to be a viable option for preventive usage and therapy in early Covid-19 patients that have not progressed to severe illness.

A pharmaceutical firm, Zydus Cadila, has previously said that their biological therapy ZRC-3308, which consists of a cocktail of two SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), may become one of the major therapies for moderate Covid-19. The treatment consists of a mixture of two monoclonal antibodies that imitate the body’s natural antibodies for fighting infection.

“Now, a study — ZRC3308 monoclonal antibody cocktail shows protective efficacy in Syrian hamsters against SARS-CoV-2 infection — posted as a recent pre print on the bioRxiv -(which is not peer reviewed) has found the cocktail to be cross neutralising, promising candidate for prophylactic use and for therapy in early cases which have not progressed to severe disease. The decrease in viral load was found proportional to the high antibody concentrations,” study researchers have said.

The protective effectiveness of the mAb cocktail was assessed using the Syrian hamster model. In human clinical trials, viral load decrease is employed as a criterion for evaluating the effect of mAb on infection magnitude. The viral load in infected hamsters’ upper respiratory tract and lungs was significantly reduced. The drop in viral load in the nasal wash in the mAB-treated animals is significant, according to the researchers, because viral load in the upper respiratory tract is a crucial driver of transmission. The study also looked at the significance of mAB therapy scheduling.

Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 infections have been widely distributed as preventative measures, but treatment options remain restricted. Monoclonal antibodies attach to and destroy SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in the same way as natural antibodies do.

In the United States, Europe, and India, neutralising monoclonal antibody-based therapies have obtained emergency use authorization in minor Covid-19 infections because they dramatically lower viral load and hospitalisation rates in mild patients. Over 200 research laboratories across the world are presently focusing on creating very powerful recombinant human mAbs to combat SARS-CoV-2.