Coronavirus: Potential vaccine generates enough antibodies to fight off virus, first peer-reviewed s

[Sancho]

Source: Independent

A potential coronavirus vaccine developed by US scientists has been found to produce antibodies capable of fighting off Covid-19 in the first peer-reviewed study of its kind.

The vaccine, which was tested on mice by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, generated the antibodies in quantities thought to be enough to “neutralise” the virus within two week of injection.

The study’s authors are now to apply to the US Food and Drug Administration for investigational new drug approval ahead of phase one human clinical trials planned to start in the next few months.

The first human trial of a vaccine began at a lab in Seattle last month after a team of US researchers skipped animal testing, which is used to establish effectiveness and safety.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/coronavirus-vaccine-pittsburgh-university-lancet-study-covid-pandemic-a9442536.html?fbclid=IwAR0javnJ4u91B4UBZ5s1R6zODakqw-rUU5IJtDVN0EVntAkNjtgZuv8AUVA

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[Bleacher Creature]

1. Go science!! NT

[ebbie15644]

2. University of Pittsburgh does such good work in research

[DarthDem]

3. Yay!

We can do this.

[Initech]

4. Don't care how, we need it now!!!

[olddad65]

5. That is great news, I wish a vaccine was a cure

As well as prevention

[lagomorph777]

15. We need both; a cure is likely to come sooner than an approved vaccine.

There are dozens of antivirals already on the market; one or more of them might do the trick.

[Botany]

22. They are making great progress on a cure .... we need both

BTW a professor @ Harvard is already making the antibodies in his lab.

Nature: How blood from coronavirus survivors might save lives

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00895-8

How blood from coronavirus survivors might save lives

New York City researchers hope antibody-rich plasma can keep people out of intensive care.

Hospitals in New York City are gearing up to use the blood of people who have recovered from COVID-19 as a possible antidote for the disease. Researchers hope that the century-old approach of infusing patients with the antibody-laden blood of those who have survived an infection will help the metropolis — now the US epicentre of the outbreak — to avoid the fate of Italy, where intensive-care units (ICUs) are so crowded that doctors have turned away patients who need ventilators to breathe.

The efforts follow studies in China that attempted the measure with plasma — the fraction of blood that contains antibodies, but not red blood cells — from people who had recovered from COVID-19. But these studies have reported only preliminary results so far. The convalescent-plasma approach has also seen modest success during past severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Ebola outbreaks — but US researchers are hoping to increase the value of the treatment by selecting donor blood that is packed with antibodies and giving it to the patients who are most likely to benefit.

A key advantage to convalescent plasma is that it’s available immediately, whereas drugs and vaccines take months or years to develop. Infusing blood in this way seems to be relatively safe, provided that it is screened for viruses and other infectious agents. Scientists who have led the charge to use plasma want to deploy it now as a stopgap measure, to keep serious infections at bay and hospitals afloat as a tsunami of cases comes crashing their way.

snip

Arturo Casadevall, an immunologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, has been fighting to use blood as a COVID-19 treatment since late January, as the disease spread to other countries and no surefire therapy was in sight. Scientists refer to this measure as ‘passive antibody therapy’ because a person receives external antibodies, rather than generating an immune response themselves, as they would following a vaccination.

[SheltieLover]

6. K&R

YAAAAAY SCIENCE! 😍👍

[jimlup]

7. Rush this sucker! Go Science!

[LudwigPastorius]

8. Promising...

The main problem this type of treatment would be up against is the swift progression of the disease, from first symptoms to death.

An early study in China and an Italian report put that between 14 and 8 days.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jmv.25689?af=R

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-03-18-20-intl-hnk/h_41d938c1421c177edcf1062a9cc9155a

[IronLionZion]

9. Go Pitt!

[LiberalArkie]

10. Isn't this where the 'T' Virus comes in and we have the zombie apocalypse comes about?

[Guilded Lilly]

11. Fingers crossed.

[Thekaspervote]

12. Yet there is dotard and his ilk knocking down science and it's branches..idiots all of them

[pnwmom]

13. I'm confused. Aren't mice animals?

[sab390]

17. Two studies

Pittsburg used mice, Seattle did not.

[CaptainTruth]

19. Humans are animals too.

[2naSalit]

14. A small ray of hope?

[Maggiemayhem]

16. Pittsburgh Strong

[rurallib]

18. Debbie Downer here says how will Trumpco fuck it up

Such good news.

Somehow I know they will do something to fuck us all over.

[klook]

33. You can bet the Trump-Kushner crime family is trying to figure out what's in it for them. (nt)

[FailureToCommunicate]

20. Is this a tiny light visable at the end of a long scary tunnel?

Good job scientists!

[C Moon]

21. I was glad to read this part...

"The researchers said their system could be scaled up to produce the protein on an industrial scale. Hundreds of millions of any Covid-19 vaccine doses will be need to be produced worldwide."

Sounds like they aren't planning on giving it to Trump to control.

[Botany]

23. Keep Trump the hell away from this. He is a full on idiot.

Trump on Coronavirus: "I'm Not Sure Anybody Even Knows What It Is"; "You Can Call It A Germ, You Can Call It A Flu"

[DeminPennswoods]

24. Pitt has been on this from the start

Good for them.

Recall, Salk was a researcher at Pitt when he developed his polio vaccine.

[C Moon]

27. Oh wow!

[DeminPennswoods]

31. If this vaccine works, and it's pretty cool

the way it's administered, Pitt will have two big feathers in its cap.

Here's a little more from my local newspaper: https://www.timesonline.com/news/20200402/upmc-pitt-create-potential-covid-19-vaccine

The vaccine, which goes on like a Band-Aid, is made of sugar and protein pieces and dissolves into the skin.

The Band-Aid-like patch is called a dissolvable microneedle array, which contains hundreds of microscopic needles that penetrate the skin and deliver the vaccine antigen to where the immune reaction is the strongest.

“So it results in a very potent vaccine,” said Dr. Louis Falo, professor and chair of dermatology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC.

The vaccine does not require refrigeration and is likely safe and effective across all age groups, Falo said.

[klook]

34. Should be free to the world as Salk's vaccine was. (nt)

[Sancho]

38. Some of us remember the sugar cubes with polio vaccine...

[DeminPennswoods]

40. Yep

nt

[DeminPennswoods]

39. It should also bypass all but preliminary human trials and be given

out like Salk's was. Even though a bad batch of the vaccine erroneously manufactured with live instead of dead virus resulted in healthy children being infected with polio, the vast majority of kids who go the vaccine were saved from polio. Parents were desperate to have their kids vaccinated and protested when Salk's vaccine was taken away so much so that the vaccine was put back into production a short time later.

[Wounded Bear]

25. A glimmer of hope for the future...nt

[Beartracks]

26. And this progress happens IN SPITE of Trump. NOT BECAUSE of Trump.

Just stating the obvious. Forgive me.

========

[customerserviceguy]

28. The magnitude of the problem

means the world's best scientists are working very diligently on the problem.

Time's "Person of the Year" might be the coronavirus (they've picked a thing once before) but it should be "The Scientist". We need to honor science greatly after the drubbing it's taken from the Trump administration.

[tblue37]

35. Or doctors and nurses.nt

[Sucha NastyWoman]

29. Seems like the first good news I've heard in weeks.

I really believe this is our only way out.

[Joinfortmill]

30. Cool

[crickets]

32. Fantastic. So glad to hear this. K&R!

[mvd]

36. Sounds like one of the first promising trials

Fingers crossed for its success!

[olddad65]

37. Trumputin will find a way to impede this approval process...

He and his master don’t want to stop this virus. It is offering them too much social control. Wait and see.

[DeminPennswoods]

41. Btw, this vaccine has been in the works for years

The Pitt researchers have been trying to create a vaccine since the 2002-3 SARS and subsequent MERS outbreaks. This is not something Pitt's team just cranked out in a few months or weeks.