Since Thursday evening, the article by a team of ten scientists, of which Grosveld is a member, has been online on BioRxiv – a website where biologists can publish their research before it will be assessed by the prestigious journal Nature. In the summary, the scientists describe an antibody to SARS2, the coronavirus causing the current pandemic (COVID-19). The antibody can help detect and prevent this type of corona infection. It is a world’s first.
Disclaimer: The antibody still has to be tested on humans (and this will take months) and the article is under peer review before Nature will publish it. But Grosveld is hopeful: “We expect an email any moment”, says the Spinoza Prize winner in his lab on the tenth floor.
What did you and your fellow researchers from the Department of Virology and Utrecht University find, exactly?
“We have published an article about an antibody that we had already isolated before the current pandemic and which cross-reacted (biological term for repelling a foreign substance, ed.) with various coronaviruses. The antibody prevents the virus from being able to infect and can also help in the detection of the virus.”
How did you discover that?
“About fifteen years ago I started a hobby project to see if we could make human antibodies (proteins made in response to antigens such as viruses, ed.) in mice. That succeeded and eventually led to the establishment of an Erasmus MC company: Harbor Antibodies BV. We now have branches in Shanghai, Boston and Rotterdam where the innovation branch is located. They mainly develop antibodies to cure tumors.”
“Together with the Viroscience department upstairs and the Virology department of the Veterinary Medicine Faculty at Utrecht University, we joined a European project: ZAPI (Zoonosex Anticipation and Preparedness Initiative, ed.). The aim was to develop antibodies against MERS, SARS and another Hongkong coronavirus (OC-43). In that project, we found antibodies that cross-reacted with those three different viruses and kept them from infecting.
“But those viruses have already been contained, we are now dealing with a different coronavirus. We still kept untested antibodies from the previous study in the refrigerator that did not react with all three mutations, but did with SARS1. When the current crisis – SARS2 – broke out, we immediately tested whether the antibodies that reacted with SARS1 also responded to SARS2. We then found the antibody that has now been published.”
What are next steps and what can we do with them?
“We are now trying to get a pharmaceutical company on board – which is looking promising, by the way – that can produce the antibody on a large scale as a medicine. Before it can be marketed, the antibody must go through an extensive development phase and be tested for toxicological properties. That process is now underway. In addition to the development as a medicine, we also want to use the antibody to set up a diagnostic test: one that everyone can do from home, so that people can easily find out whether they have an infection or not. ”
How unique is this find?
“As far as we know, this is the very first antibody that blocks the infection. And there is a good chance that it will also become a medicine on the market. Finding something like this is very rare. During my career I have worked a lot on gene regulation: how are genes switched on and off, what is the structure of our genome? Fortunately, I was also able to make a number of discoveries in that field that made me feel we were really making progress. But such research was mainly about understanding and out of scientific interest. This antibody is all about application.”
So you now have the solution?
“If you were to take this as a patient, it is expected – only an expectation right now – that the infection will be stopped. And so it can give the patient an opportunity to recover. But prevention is of course better than a cure: a real solution is therefore a vaccine, others are working on that. However, developing a vaccine can easily take two years. Our medicine, if it all works as it should, could be here sooner. But it will be more expensive to produce.
“A vaccine usually consists of a protein that comes from a virus or a killed virus. If you put a little bit of that in people or animals, they will make antibodies against it. This creates so-called memory cells that remember what they’ve seen before. If the virus tries to enter the body, those memory cells can respond quickly to it and ward off the virus. An antibody acts as a medicine, but the patient doesn’t make antibodies himself. If you administer the drug it will last for a few weeks. That’s enough for recovery, but probably not to keep the virus out forever. It’s better if the patient develops his own immunity.”
Did you immediately think ‘I may have something for this’ when this virus broke out? How does that work?
“My colleague from Utrecht Berend-Jan Bosch and I thought: we have to do something and maybe we’ve got something for it. That is why we started immediately and the current panic means working hard around the clock. I start at about nine, until about seven. Then I go home to my family and when everything has settled down there I start working again, until just after midnight.”
Have you already received a lot of attention for it?
“Not so much yet. It has now been published on BioRxiv, but it is only for real when it has been approved by the peers at Nature – until then we are not allowed to go to the press on our own. But if you ask questions, we can answer them. Hopefully the approval will come in a few days and then Nature will also send out a press release. You can see that the publication on BioRxiv is already provoking something among colleagues on Twitter and LinkedIn. Yesterday I already received a record number of emails and texts.”
Are you going to be rich thanks to this find?
Laughing: “You see that all wrong, this isn’t a good business case. There is a chance that the virus will be gone in a month or two. Then as a pharmaceutical company you’ve spent millions for nothing – only they are able to take these kinds of risks. There was also a panic when SARS1 and MERS broke out. By the time there was a vaccine and antibodies, the virus was already gone.”
What do you think of the current approach in the Netherlands?
“We have been too lax and were not well prepared. For example, there were too few tests and too few restrictions in the beginning, while we could see what was happening in China and then Italy.”
Will the test you are developing solve some of this?
“We would love to do that and a cheap first test has already been produced in China, but I don’t know how much they are able to create. I’ve asked them to send some tests here to try them, but the ban on flights from China is making that difficult. Making a test can be faster than developing a medicine, because such a test doesn’t need to be researched as thoroughly as medicine. It is not something that you administer to a patient and works pretty much the same as a pregnancy test, except with oral mucus instead of urine. I don’t know how much the test will cost in the end.”
Were you lucky or clever to make this discovery?
“In our first study with SARS, MERS and OC43, we did a clever job – before this crisis broke out. And later we were lucky to have antibodies that also bind to the new virus. We were therefore ahead of others, but undoubtedly more antibodies against SARS2 will be developed, also by us.”
Thanks for sharing ! When can be tested on humans then?
Shouldn’t we stop the travel ban from China? It apparently hampers the development of a solución.
Ik heb vier jaar geleden asiel gekregen en ik werd geholpen en het is tijd om de schuld terug te betalen. Ik ben in goede gezondheid en ben klaar om een dosis Coronavirus in te nemen. Als je een medicijn vindt, moet de vrijwilliger het proberen
I am Receiving Gamma Globulin to Give my Blood Antibodies so I can Fight Infections. Any Similarities?
Good luck and continued success to Professor Frank Grosvelt and his team regarding their SARS2 antibody research!
Heike Gehrmann (journalist), Germany
How did they distinguish between a corona virus and exosomes? COVID19 has all symptoms of radiation poisoning. Is this the reason why the immune system isn’t responding? Antibodies don’t respond to COVID19 cells like they should respond in case of Corona virus, so what makes it a Corona virus and not exosomes?
This is incredible news. Congratulations for what has the all the makings of a historically recognized accomplishment. Best to share this across the web to combat the noise and negativity.
This is good news to the whole world on behalf of you. I encourage you to continue your unreserved effort for that you and your team will remain unforgotten in human history for valuable contributions . Keep it up in more passion . God help you and the whole world in advance .
Mmm this is tricky somehow
At the beginning of reading this article I was like that 🙂
But, when continued & finished I was so disappointing like that 🙁
They will need years and maybe as what the mentioned scientist said, by the time of discovering a vaccine the virus has already gone
i can understand how you might feel that – but on a careful read i think the answers are quite clear and are not “tricky”
Prof Grosveld has discovered an antibody that blocks the infection.
With the right collaboration and efforts with pharmaceutical companies – it could be made available as medicine sooner than a vaccine.
while a vaccine is ultimately the best solution – this antibody can be administered to those who already have the virus, allowing them to recover.
the next steps are testing and distribution – and the issues slowing this process down appear to be friction in international collaboration (the example here – flight restrictions with china) and corporate risk aversion.
if the outbreak is not showing real signs of being contained within 6 – 8 weeks – then this discovery shows real potential of being the critical scientific break through that will allow us to combat the virus with an effective medicinal solution.
The virus is just getting started in Africa so we will need all the treatments we can get here. The other viruses like SARS-1 and Mers did not get a foot hold in Africa and Spread globally. This virus is different.
All at the expense of poor lab animals. The controvercy of our existence makes me feel shame.
It is really simple. Your child has a disease that will kill him, the only way he survives is to take a medicine that was developed through tests on animals…..only a mentally disordered person would refuse to give him that medicine.
So everyone who is against testing on animals is a very selfish person, they obviously don’t NEED that drug at the moment but many others do, they are essentially fighting so people in need wouldn’t be able to get it. Perverse.
I understand your perspective. Until we have an alternative, this is for the “greater good.”
Our species has been very destructive, but in turn we have also progressed VERY far! It must be done. Do not feel shame as long as we progress. Smile! 🙂
Oh Christ!
I think that factory farming must be curtailed. As long as animals are kept close together in harsh circumstances risks remain. Time to treat animals kindly in all farming activities.
So why don’t you volunteer your human body and give the animals a break since you’re so concerned….
ZoonoseS Anticipation and Preparedness – please correct
the dutch translation has this spelled correctly – would be good to update in the english version for completeness.
Netherlands has extraordinarily talented scientists and researchers. Big congratulations to Prof Grosvelt. All society should thank his efforts. In general, Netherlands needs to have a more powerful ecosystems of financial sponsors to help discoveries and inventions to come to market. In this situation, a pharmaceutical firm could take over. It would be easier if the ecosystem was in place somehow already. It would also protect scientists’ work to be lost to multinationals who try to kill technology that disrupts their businesses by acquiring the patents and rights and dissapearing the invention as has happened before in NL. I hope Prof Grosvelt finds a good and ethical partnership within Europe to further the antibody development. Human kind might still need it in the future. Again, big congratulations and respect to this extraordinary scientist, Prof Grosvelt
I hope this knowledge will go open source. It Deens to me the best way to het scientists from all I et the world involved. Worthwhile to look at the Ted lecture by Bill Gates (2015) on potential pandemics
What about antibodies from recovered patients? Can’t they be harvested and/or cloned? How do they compare to your antibody?
Well done Prof. Grosveld:
Talk about an ace in the hole which might be an adequate description, you have given the human race a second chance. Congratulation!
MR FRANK DON’T TAKE LONG TO DISTRIBUTE THE ANTIBODY PLEASE WE ARE DIEYING GOD HELP U TO SAVE THE WORLD .
This is really good news. Could someone please let the Chris Whitty and Patrick Valance know in the UK ?
Please make it available as soon as possible, firstly for the most vulnerable then for everyone else, that is except the ones who have been selfish is selling things at excessive prices and those that have been greedy panic buying and leaving nothing for everyone else.
I would hope one of the 1st groups of people it’s made available to are nurses, doctors, and hospital staff in the front lines that were already understaffed before the pandemic hit. Without them the treatment and lifesaving care can’t be made available to the public.
Too ‘laxs’ ?? Je bedoelt laks in de oorzaken aanpakken ja. Too relaxed in English to deal with the real issues. This might be lead to a vaccin to stop this epedemic development racing around the world. And that is great science to be proud of. But what we really need to think about is how we organise this world? Distroying ecological balance, killing natural predators, “live’food market, butchery of the most endangered species in the world for food or medication. Healthy people can only live in a healthy planet otherwise the next virus will be around the corner. Now pharmaceutic industry can start making money out of bad organisation of this world. This is the real call to our world leaders!
Hi,
Any correspondence from The Nature-journal yet?
Thank you for your great research efforts! God bless you and the rest of us amidst of this calamity!
Some questions:
1. A human that has overcome the virus has developed antibodies against SARS2. These antibodies are obviously known and detectable, since people can be tested for having had the virus. Can we isolate these antibodies -developed by the human immune system-and mass-produce them, rather than pursuing the mice route? No need for extensive testing.
2. Is the ability to produce antibodies -once developed by the immune system- an attribute of blood ? In other words , would transfer of blood of a cured person to an other person -infected or not- also transfer the ability to produce antibodies ? So no vaccine required (?)
what you suggest is possible and has as far as I know been done quiet a lot recently in China and I heard serum from survivors was sent to Italy to use for hospital staff there to give them passive immunity.
This is an old method used for other viruses 50 years ago and earlier, even in times when titers could not be measured, but it is claimed such passive immunization with serum from survivors was successful in at least some cases (there was not enough done at the time, and not well documented, as far as I know) of the famous Spanish flue of 1918. So yes, in principle we can do it from survivors, and the modern method using monoclonals is an additional method, we will see what helps more.
Most say a vaccine will take way longer than 12 months to be available, the passive serum method is available NOW, from any recovered patient who donates his blood and has it carefully checked for safety (hepatitis viruses, etc. etc).
Monoclonals from Utrecht will be on the market quite soon: this depends more on political regulatory steps how soon it is approved.
Overall this is proof there is no need for panic, just to behave responsibly…
can you tell me the name of the pharmaceutical company that you’re planning on working with?
So you can buy stocks and make money on other people’s death? I think you already know this is illegal and you just made a public post.
It seems that a healthy (I will get back to that) immune system is designed to do both of those things, “prevent and detect” although the order in the body is detect and prevent I believe. If we look at the evidence for those who die or get very sick, it is in the majority of cases, those with an immune system that is unhealthy for one reason or another. For example, the high death rate in Italy could be due in part, to their high percentage of smokers. China is also known for a high rate of smokers.
I think it’s wonderful that you may be able to help those who aren’t willing, or can’t, do what it takes to have the best health level that they can. But it is also another case of giving humans another reason to do what they want with their health and then when it goes to bad, just take pill.
When the warning light goes on in our car we don’t put tape over it so we can’t see it, we find out what’s causing the warning and we fix it. Our bodies give us so many warnings and it’s a shame when we don’t listen to it, but instead, we drug it.
Hello, I liked your article.
And I want to express my following opinion.
First you need to cure with the help of antibodies those people who have weak immunity.
Then, so that they do not get sick again, use a vaccine based on the immune systems of people who recovered themselves without antibodies.
I was excited to read about this excellent discovery, but am rather dismayed by the apparent lack of updates on progress…unless they are all in Dutch and I can’t find them?
There is no news about this on Harbour Biomed’s website. If they are doing or saying nothing, I think you need to get the EU, EMA or Dutch government behind it and accelerate things quickly. Also perhaps US or UK drugs companies with more resources than Harbour Biomed? Need to get this properly publicised and get things moving!
I think you will wait a long time for proper peer review via Biorxiv.org and publishing in Nature, but assuming it’s true and it works, I have the following questions (I’m not an expert in this field):
1. How quickly could it go into production? What would be the production process? How many doses could be manufactured?
2. How does this antibody compare to the human antibodies e.g. IgG, IgM, IgA?
3. As a treatment for COVID-19, how would it compare to other possible treatments, e.g. favipiravir, remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, ACE-inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers (e.g. candesartan)?
4. How would this treatment compare to using blood plasma donations from people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies against it? How many doses of any new drug would be available, compared with antibody blood donations? How many treatment doses could be achieved from each blood donation?
5. Would it be equally effective against the different virus strains/mutations, e.g. the L-type and S-type? What about future virus mutations (as frequently occurs with the other 4 cold coronaviruses)?
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