2021/02/18
Keio University School of Medicine
Shiga University of Medical Science
RIKEN
A joint research group consisting of Professor Tsutomu Takeuchi and Project Assistant Professor Masaru Takeshita of the Department of Rheumatology and Collagen Diseases, Keio University School of Medicine; Professor Hideyuki Saya of the Division of Gene Regulation, Institute for Advanced Medical Research at the same university; Professor Yasushi Ito of the Department of Pathology of Disease Control, Shiga University of Medical Science; Deputy Team Leader Hidehiro Fukuyama of the Laboratory for Differentiation and Regulation, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences; Team Leader Mikako Shirouzu of the Laboratory for Protein Functional and Structural Biology, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research; and Director Yoshimasa Takahashi and Chief Researcher Ayano Moriyama of the Department of Immunology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, has succeeded in acquiring neutralizing antibodies against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).
When the body is infected with a virus, it begins to produce protective factors called antibodies. Antibodies specifically recognize and bind to various parts of a virus. Among these, antibodies that can bind to sites critical for the virus's activity, thereby inhibiting its function and inactivating the virus, are called "neutralizing antibodies." As a treatment for COVID-19, neutralizing antibody drugs developed by US-based companies Regeneron and Eli Lilly have received Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are being administered to patients in the United States. These drugs are showing effectiveness in reducing viral load in patients and preventing the disease from becoming severe.
The joint research group has now conducted a detailed analysis of neutralizing antibodies in the blood of recovered COVID-19 patients and has acquired multiple antibodies with high neutralizing activity that could be applied as therapeutic agents. Similar research is being conducted worldwide, but no domestically produced antibody drug has yet been put into practical use in Japan. These antibodies have been confirmed to be effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection in cells even at low concentrations. Experiments are currently underway using animals to confirm their efficacy.
The Keio University School of Medicine has now signed a joint research agreement with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation. Going forward, the team will proceed with further characterization of these antibodies and aim for their practical application as a domestically produced antibody drug.
Please see below for the full press release.