Omicron reduces the effectiveness of anti-Covid vaccines and escapes monoclonal antibodies. All ? No, American researchers have identified four types which retain their antiviral activity in the face of this ultra-contagious variant.
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[EN VIDÉO] Coronavirus: You may already have antibodies and not know it Without ever having been infected, some people have antibodies that react to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. This particularly concerns children, who are very exposed to various seasonal viruses, and suggests the existence of cross-immunity. Can we then hope that catching a good cold will protect us from infection with Covid-19?
Omicron emerged with its share of bad news: highly mutated, the variant significantly lowers the effectiveness of vaccines (the 3e dose partially restores it) and completely cancels the antiviral action of certain therapeutic antibodies, like those included in the Ronapreve.
But all hope of countering the Omicron variant is not lost. The barrier gestures still work and the vaccine booster reduces the risk of infection, hospitalization and death from Covid-19 for all age groups. On the therapeutic antibody side, scientists from the Department of biochemistry at the University of Washington, based in Seattle, isolated four types of antibodies to serum convalescent patients or vaccinated people who retain their antiviral potential when faced with Omicron. Their results appeared in Nature in the form of a briefing of research upstream of an article published in its final version.
Monoclonal antibodies effective against Omicron and other coronaviruses
But Seattle scientists tested a large library ofmonoclonal antibodies and have identified four types of antibodies that retain their activity against Omicron in vitro. The latter do not attach to the RBM, subject to mutations, but in less variable regions. The four antibodies each have their own target and are found to be active against Omicron, the other variants but also coronavirus more distant, belonging to the subgenus of Sarbecovirus. Among the candidates is sotrovimab, one of the few commercially available monoclonal antibodies to retain its antiviral action against Omicron. There is also S2K146, a monoclonal antibody identified last October, which mimics the structure of ACE2 and thus deceives the coronavirus.
L’emergence of Omicron marks a turning point in the pandemic of Covid-19 it is so different from these predecessors, from an antigenic point of view. Monoclonal antibodies capable of countering him and other coronaviruses could be essential in containing the ongoing pandemic.
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