Antibody therapy against coronavirus (COVID-19)

ATAC aims at developing passive immunotherapy against COVID-19. Human antibodies will be obtained from blood of CoV-recovered donors from China and Italy with three independent approaches: polyclonal gamma-globulins, B cell monoclonals and phage libraries. Antibodies will be characterized by rapid experimental and computational work, optimized, produced and tested in consultation with EMA to ensure prompt embedding of regulatory aspects. The partners have outstanding experience in all aspects of the project, collaborated previously and worked on antibody therapy for diseases including SARS and MERS-CoV. Reagents and experienced personnel are already available ensuring quick and efficient progress, with initial deliverables within 3 months. Besides providing a lead human antibody candidate for therapy, ATAC will rapidly disseminate results to help respond to the current COVID-19 epidemic. Results of the 2 years project will also further our understanding of CoV neutralization, contributing to future vaccination and therapeutic strategies. The team includes the Karolinska Institutet (SE, Pan-Hammarstr√∂m and Hammarstr√∂m, coordinators), the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (CH, Varani and Robbiani); the Joint Research Centre- European Commission (BE, Calzolai); Technische Universit√§t Braunschweig (DE, Hust) and Policlinico San Matteo (IT, Baldanti). The partners'Äô outstanding expertise is attested by high impact publications on antibody treatment for emerging infectious diseases.