scholarly journals Models to inform neutralizing antibody therapy strategies during pandemics: the case of SARS-CoV-2

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-71
Author(s):  
Donovan Guttieres ◽  
Anthony J Sinskey ◽  
Stacy L Springs

Abstract Background Neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) against SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) can play an important role in reducing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, complementing ongoing public health efforts such as diagnostics and vaccination. Rapidly designing, manufacturing and distributing nAbs requires significant planning across the product value chain and an understanding of the opportunities, challenges and risks throughout. Methods A systems framework comprised of four critical components is presented to aid in developing effective end-to-end nAbs strategies in the context of a pandemic: (1) product design and optimization, (2) epidemiology, (3) demand and (4) supply. Quantitative models are used to estimate product demand using available epidemiological data, simulate biomanufacturing operations from typical bioprocess parameters and calculate antibody production costs to meet clinical needs under various realistic scenarios. Results In a US-based case study during the 9-month period from March 15 to December 15, 2020, the projected number of SARS-CoV-2 infections was 15.73 million. The estimated product volume needed to meet therapeutic demand for the maximum number of clinically eligible patients ranged between 6.3 and 31.5 tons for 0.5 and 2.5 g dose sizes, respectively. The relative production scale and cost needed to meet demand are calculated for different centralized and distributed manufacturing scenarios. Conclusions Meeting demand for anti-SARS-CoV-2 nAbs requires significant manufacturing capacity and planning for appropriate administration in clinical settings. MIT Center for Biomedical Innovation’s data-driven tools presented can help inform time-critical decisions by providing insight into important operational and policy considerations for making nAbs broadly accessible, while considering time and resource constraints.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lidya Handayani Tjan ◽  
Tatsuya Nagano ◽  
Koichi Furukawa ◽  
Mitsuhiro Nishimura ◽  
Jun Arii ◽  
...  

Background: COVID-19 patients show a wide clinical spectrum ranging from mild respiratory symptoms to severe and fatal disease, and older individuals are known to be affected more severely. Neutralizing antibody for viruses is critical for their elimination, and increased cytokine/chemokine levels are thought to be related to COVID-19 severity. However, the trend of the neutralizing antibody production and cytokine/chemokine levels during the clinical course of COVID-19 patients with differing levels of severity has not been established. Methods: We serially collected 45 blood samples from 12 patients with different levels of COVID-19 severity, and investigated the trend of neutralizing antibody production using authentic SARS-CoV-2 and cytokine/chemokine release in the patients' clinical courses. Results: All 12 individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 had the neutralizing antibody against it, and the antibodies were induced at approx. 4-10 days after the patients' onsets. The antibodies in the critical and severe cases showed high neutralizing activity in all clinical courses. Most cytokine/chemokine levels were clearly high in the critical patients compared to those with milder symptoms. Conclusion: Neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 were induced at a high level in the severe COVID-19 patients, indicating that abundant virus replication occurred. Cytokines/chemokines were expressed more in the critical patients, indicating that high productions of cytokines/chemokines have roles in the disease severity. These results may indicate that plasma or neutralizing antibody therapy could be a first-line treatment for older patients to eliminate the virus, and corticosteroid therapy could be effective to suppress the cytokine storm after the viral genome's disappearance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dapeng Li ◽  
Gregory D. Sempowski ◽  
Kevin O. Saunders ◽  
Priyamvada Acharya ◽  
Barton F. Haynes

Prophylactic and therapeutic drugs are urgently needed to combat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Over the past year, SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies have been developed for preventive or therapeutic uses. While neutralizing antibodies target the spike protein, their neutralization potency and breadth vary according to recognition epitopes. Several potent SARS-CoV-2 antibodies have shown degrees of success in preclinical or clinical trials, and the US Food and Drug Administration has issued emergency use authorization for two neutralizing antibody cocktails. Nevertheless, antibody therapy for SARS-CoV-2 still faces potential challenges, including emerging viral variants of concern that have antibody-escape mutations and the potential for antibody-mediated enhancement of infection or inflammation. This review summarizes representative SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies that have been reported and discusses prospects and challenges for the development of the next generation of COVID-19 preventive or therapeutic antibodies. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Medicine, Volume 73 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S377-S378
Author(s):  
Christopher Polk ◽  
Anna Jacobs ◽  
Mindy Sampson ◽  
Michael Leonard ◽  
Leigh Ann Medaris ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Neutralizing antibody therapies targeting SARS-CoV-2 have been released for emergency use authorization by the FDA. Little is published on their real-world experience. In this retrospective study we share the results of our early experience on patient outcomes from use of these neutralizing antibodies within a large healthcare system. Methods We retrospectively analyzed results of a healthcare system wide program to pro-actively identify and treat COVID-19 patients with neutralizing antibody therapy. Results The 449 patients identified for SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody therapy during the study period were retrospectively classified as falling in one of the three groups: untreated (199), bamlanivimab (87) and casirivimab/indevimab (125) treated patients (Table 1). Reasons identified patients were not treated most commonly were patient declined (n=74), unable to be contacted (n=36), out of treatment window (n=23), asymptomatic and feeling better (n=21) or did not have transportation (n=9). Bamlanivimab infusion did not reduce emergency room (ER) visits or hospitalization compared to untreated patient within 30-days of follow up (Table 2), and among all patients treated with antibody therapy only treatment with bamlanivimab and non-white race were predictors of need for hospitalization (Table 3). Casirivimab/indevimab did reduce subsequent ER visits or hospitalization within 30 days post-infusion when compared to the untreated group. However, patients treated with either antibody therapy had lower acuity of COVID-19 disease as reflected in need for intensive care unit (ICU) stay, mechanical ventilation or death (Table 2). Table 1. Characteristics of infused vs uninfused patients Table 2. Outcomes in treated vs untreated patients Table 3. Risk factors for ED visits or hospitalization in infused patients Conclusion Either neutralizing antibody therapy appears to markedly reduce acuity of COVID-19 disease even if patients do progress to requiring hospitalization. However, casirivimab/indevimab therapy also decreased ER visits and hospitalization suggesting better efficacy in our experience. Disclosures Christopher Polk, MD, Atea (Research Grant or Support)Gilead (Advisor or Review Panel member, Research Grant or Support)Humanigen (Research Grant or Support)Regeneron (Research Grant or Support) Mindy Sampson, MD, Regeneron (Grant/Research Support)


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALFREDO MENDRONE-JUNIOR ◽  
CARLA DINARDO ◽  
SUZETE FERREIRA ◽  
ANNA NISHIA ◽  
NANCI SALLES ◽  
...  

Background: Passive antibody therapy with convalescent plasma (CP) represents a promising alternative for the treatment of SARS CoV 2 infection. The efficacy of CP therapy has been associated with high titers of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) in the plasma of recovered patients, but the assays for quantifying nAbs are not widely available. Our goal was to develop a strategy to predict high titers of nAbs based on the results of anti-SARS CoV 2 immunoassays and the clinical characteristics of the CP potential donors. Methods: Two hundred and fourteen CP donors were enrolled and tested for the presence of anti-SARS CoV 2 antibodies using two commercial immunoassays (IA): Anti SARS CoV 2 ELISA IgG EUROIMMUN and Anti SARS CoV 2 Chemiluminescence IgG Abbott. In parallel, quantification of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) was performed using the Cytopathic effect-based virus neutralization test (CPE VNT). Three criteria for identifying donors with high titers of nAbs (more than 160) were tested: Criterion1: Curve ROC Method; Criterion 2: Conditional decision tree considering only the results from the IA and Criterion 3: Conditional decision tree including both the IA results and the clinical variables. Results: The performance of Abbott and EUROIMMUN immunoassays was similar referring to both S/CO and predictive value for identifying nAbs titers more than 1:160. Regarding the three studied criteria for identifying CP donors with high nAbs titers (more than 1:160): 1) Criterion 1 showed 76.1% accuracy when the S/CO cut-off of 4.65 was used, 2) Criterion 2 presented 76.1% accuracy if the S/CO more than 4.57 was applied and 3) Criterion 3 had 71.6% accuracy if either S/CO more than 4.57 or S/CO between 2.68 and 4.57 and the last COVID-19-related symptoms occurred less than 19 days from donor recruiting were used. Conclusion: The results of SARS-CoV-2 immunoassays (S/CO) can be used to predict high nAbs titers of potential CP donors. This study has proposed three different criteria for identifying donors with more than 160 nAbs titer based on either solely S/CO results or S/CO together with clinical variables, all with high efficacy and accuracy.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Alejandro Alvarez Diaz ◽  
Katherine Laiton Donato ◽  
Orlando Alfredo Torres Garcia ◽  
Hector Alejandro Ruiz Moreno ◽  
Carlos E Franco Munoz ◽  
...  

The E484K mutation at the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein emerged independently in different variants around the world, probably as part of the ongoing adaptation of the virus to the human host, and has been widely associated with immune escape from neutralizing antibodies generated during previous infection or vaccination. In this work, the B.1+L249S+E484K lineage was isolated along with A.1, B.1.420 and B.1.111 SARS-CoV-2 lineages without the E484K mutation and the neutralizing titer of convalescent sera was compared using microneutralization assays. While no significant differences in the neutralizing antibody titers were found between A1 and B lineages without the E484K mutation, the neutralizing titers against B.1+L249S+E484K were 1.5, 1.9, 2.1, and 1.3-fold lower than against A.1, B.1.420, B.1.111-I, and B.1.111-II, respectively. However, molecular epidemiological data indicate that there is no increase in the transmissibility rate associated with this new lineage. Hence, although the evidence provided in this study support a Variant of Interest Status (VOI) for the B1+L249S+E484K lineage, enhanced laboratory characterization of this particular lineage and other emerging lineages with the E484K mutation should be carried out in individuals with immunity acquired by natural infection and vaccination. This study accentuated the capability of new variants with the E484K mutation to be resistant to neutralization by humoral immunity, and therefore the need to intensify surveillance programs.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoying Shen ◽  
Haili Tang ◽  
Charlene McDanal ◽  
Kshitij Wagh ◽  
Will Fischer ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe SARS-CoV-2 Spike glycoprotein mediates virus entry and is a major target for neutralizing antibodies. All current vaccines are based on the ancestral Spike with the goal of generating a protective neutralizing antibody response. Several novel SARS-CoV-2 variants with multiple Spike mutations have emerged, and their rapid spread and potential for immune escape have raised concerns. One of these variants, first identified in the United Kingdom, B.1.1.7 (also called VUI202012/01), contains eight Spike mutations with potential to impact antibody therapy, vaccine efficacy and risk of reinfection. Here we employed a lentivirus-based pseudovirus assay to show that variant B.1.1.7 remains sensitive to neutralization, albeit at moderately reduced levels (~2-fold), by serum samples from convalescent individuals and recipients of two different vaccines based on ancestral Spike: mRNA-1273 (Moderna), and protein nanoparticle NVX-CoV2373 (Novavax). Some monoclonal antibodies to the receptor binding domain (RBD) of Spike were less effective against the variant while others were largely unaffected. These findings indicate that B.1.1.7 is not a neutralization escape variant that would be a major concern for current vaccines, or for an increased risk of reinfection.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 628
Author(s):  
Aeron C. Hurt ◽  
Adam K. Wheatley

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 and subsequent COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a significant global public health burden, leading to an urgent need for effective therapeutic strategies. In this article, we review the role of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) in the clinical management of COVID-19 and provide an overview of recent randomized controlled trial data evaluating nAbs in the ambulatory, hospitalized and prophylaxis settings. Two nAb cocktails (casirivimab/imdevimab and bamlanivimab/etesevimab) and one nAb monotherapy (bamlanivimab) have been granted Emergency Use Authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of ambulatory patients who have a high risk of progressing to severe disease, and the European Medicines Agency has similarly recommended both cocktails and bamlanivimab monotherapy for use in COVID-19 patients who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at high risk of progressing to severe COVID-19. Efficacy of nAbs in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 has been varied, potentially highlighting the challenges of antiviral treatment in patients who have already progressed to severe disease. However, early data suggest a promising prophylactic role for nAbs in providing effective COVID-19 protection. We also review the risk of treatment-emergent antiviral resistant “escape” mutants and strategies to minimize their occurrence, discuss the susceptibility of newly emerging SARS-COV-2 variants to nAbs, as well as explore administration challenges and ways to improve patient access.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanda Kishore Routhu ◽  
Narayanaiah Cheedarla ◽  
Venkata Satish Bollimpelli ◽  
Sailaja Gangadhara ◽  
Venkata Viswanadh Edara ◽  
...  

AbstractThere is a great need for the development of vaccines that induce potent and long-lasting protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2. Multimeric display of the antigen combined with potent adjuvant can enhance the potency and longevity of the antibody response. The receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein is a primary target of neutralizing antibodies. Here, we developed a trimeric form of the RBD and show that it induces a potent neutralizing antibody response against live virus with diverse effector functions and provides protection against SARS-CoV-2 challenge in mice and rhesus macaques. The trimeric form induces higher neutralizing antibody titer compared to monomer with as low as 1μg antigen dose. In mice, adjuvanting the protein with a TLR7/8 agonist formulation alum-3M-052 induces 100-fold higher neutralizing antibody titer and superior protection from infection compared to alum. SARS-CoV-2 infection causes significant loss of innate cells and pathology in the lung, and vaccination protects from changes in innate cells and lung pathology. These results demonstrate RBD trimer protein as a suitable candidate for vaccine against SARS-CoV-2.


Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 134
Author(s):  
Zekun Mu ◽  
Barton F. Haynes ◽  
Derek W. Cain

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic introduced the world to a new type of vaccine based on mRNA encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). Instead of delivering antigenic proteins directly, an mRNA-based vaccine relies on the host’s cells to manufacture protein immunogens which, in turn, are targets for antibody and cytotoxic T cell responses. mRNA-based vaccines have been the subject of research for over three decades as a platform to protect against or treat a variety of cancers, amyloidosis and infectious diseases. In this review, we discuss mRNA-based approaches for the generation of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines to HIV. We examine the special immunological hurdles for a vaccine to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies and effective T cell responses to HIV. Lastly, we outline an mRNA-based HIV vaccination strategy based on the immunobiology of broadly neutralizing antibody development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongbing Pan ◽  
Jianhui Du ◽  
Jia Liu ◽  
Hai Wu ◽  
Fang Gui ◽  
...  

AbstractAs the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to threaten public health worldwide, the development of effective interventions is urgently needed. Neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) have great potential for the prevention and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this study, ten nAbs were isolated from two phage-display immune libraries constructed from the pooled PBMCs of eight COVID-19 convalescent patients. Eight of them, consisting of heavy chains encoded by the immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene-variable region (IGHV)3-66 or IGHV3-53 genes, recognized the same epitope on the receptor-binding domain (RBD), while the remaining two bound to different epitopes. Among the ten antibodies, 2B11 exhibited the highest affinity and neutralization potency against the original wild-type (WT) SARS-CoV-2 virus (KD = 4.76 nM for the S1 protein, IC50 = 6 ng/mL for pseudoviruses, and IC50 = 1 ng/mL for authentic viruses), and potent neutralizing ability against B.1.1.7 pseudoviruses. Furthermore, 1E10, targeting a distinct epitope on RBD, exhibited different neutralization efficiency against WT SARS-CoV-2 and its variants B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and P.1. The crystal structure of the 2B11–RBD complexes revealed that the epitope of 2B11 highly overlaps with the ACE2-binding site. The in vivo experiment of 2B11 using AdV5-hACE2-transduced mice showed encouraging therapeutic and prophylactic efficacy against SARS-CoV-2. Taken together, our results suggest that the highly potent SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing antibody, 2B11, could be used against the WT SARS-CoV-2 and B.1.1.7 variant, or in combination with a different epitope-targeted neutralizing antibody, such as 1E10, against SARS-CoV-2 variants.


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