Monoclonal antibody treatments have been one of the primary ways that medical professionals have tried to treat COVID-19. However, monoclonal antibody treatments were designed to attack one specific area of the virus.
When the Omicron variant emerged, these treatments became largely ineffective.
New research has been conducted to fight this new mutated variant.
The CDC estimated that 99% of all new cases in the US are of the Omicron variant. This makes it even more critical that a stronger treatment be developed that is able to target multiple areas of the virus, as opposed to one singular target.
Monoclonal antibody treatment is now mostly obsolete since it cannot bind to the virus and do its job. Assuming that the virus will mutate again, new treatments would hopefully be able to bind to multiple areas of the virus regardless of any new mutations.
Polyclonal Treatments
Researchers currently believe the answer is in polyclonal antibody treatments. These treatments work similar to the monoclonal antibody treatments but are able to bind to multiple areas of the virus.
They have been successful in trials to date and have passed Research Phases 1 and 1b, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
In fact, NIAID initiated Phase 3 research (human trials) and began enrolling patients infected with COVID-19 in April 2022.
Polyclonal treatments work differently in large part due to the difference in the process used to create them. Monoclonal antibodies are created using ex vivo culture techniques that use tissue samples.
Before that can happen, however, a researcher must first inject the targeted antigen into an animal multiple times until the animal develops an immune response to the antigen.
After this process is complete, the researcher can then isolate and clone the antibody in the tissue sample.
Polyclonal antibodies are developed in vitro by injecting an immunogen directly into an animal with the express purpose of eliciting a primary immune response.
The immunogen is usually a specific antigen the researcher is hoping to grow in higher amounts by injecting a second round of the same antigen into the animal.
After the immunization process, polyclonal antibodies are harvested directly from the serum of the animal or purified to create a liquid solution that contains no other serum proteins other than the polyclonal antibodies.
There are stringent guidelines and strict regulations for the use of animals in the production of polyclonal antibodies. Researchers must provide strong scientific justification anytime they seek to use animals in their research.
Additionally, researchers must gain approval from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and submit to IACUC oversight while adhering to all IACUC regulations.
Through this highly regulated and overseen process, researchers are confident in the promise of polyclonal antibodies to better treat the rising variants of COVID-19.
Sources:
- https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/large-nih-clinical-trial-will-test-polyclonal-antibody-therapeutic-covid-19
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211339813000774
- https://www.creative-diagnostics.com/polyclonal-vs-monoclonal-antibodies.htm
- https://services-web.research.uci.edu/compliance/animalcare-use/research-policies-and-guidance/antibody-production.html
- https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2022/01/04/polyclonal-antibody-treatment-for-covid-19-moves-to-phase-3-trial-at-ut-southwestern/
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/026119299902700106