Breakthrough close on antibody therapy

Scientists working on coronavirus treatments may be close to a breakthrough on an antibody treatment that could save the lives of people who become infected, it has been reported.

An injection of cloned antibodies that counteract Covid-19 could prove significant for those in the early stages of infection, according to the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

Antibody therapy is more expensive than vaccine production, with Soriot saying the former would be prioritised for the elderly and vulnerable "who may not be able to develop a good response to a vaccine".

On Thursday, AstraZeneca signed a deal with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi) to help manufacture 300million globally accessible doses of the coronavirus vaccine candidate being developed by the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford. Trials of the potential vaccine have started in Brazil.

Meanwhile in China, Shanghai Junshi Biosciences has started an early-stage study to test a potential antibody treatment against the coronavirus in uninfected people, official paper Liberation Daily said on its online channel yesterday.

The experimental drug, JS016, is also expected to begin human study in the United States in the second quarter of this year, through collaboration with Eli Lilly and Co.