Antibodies from recovered patients’ blood hold enormous promise as
the next big thing for coronavirus.
Recently, FDA encourages recovered patients to donate blood for development
of blood-related therapies.
The antibody-rich blood from recovered patients has the potential to
lessen the severity of illness caused by coronavirus.
Those individuals who have recovered from coronavirus could have an immediate impact
in helping other patients.
One donation has the potential to help up to four patients.
An American patient felt “burst of energy” followed infusion of recovered patient’s blood
after his month-long battle with coronavirus.
At least 5 US teams try to select the most potent antibodies from
recovered patients’ blood, and make them into antibody drugs.
Like finding a needle in a haystack, scientists have to find the best ones
out of thousands of antibodies from blood samples.
One company hopes to have an antibody drug available at the end of this summer.
Antibodies are produced by specialized blood cells in the immune system.
Antibodies bind to and inactivate viruses and toxins.
These antibodies are called “neutralizing antibodies.”
Each antibody recognizes one specific virus.
A right antibody drug can double or triple the protective power of the immune system.
