Antibodies are proteins the body makes when an infection occurs; they attach to a virus and help it be eliminated. Vaccines work by tricking the body into thinking there's an infection so it makes antibodies and remembers how to do that if the real bug turns up.
They're also being tested as treatments, to help the immune system and prevent severe symptoms or death. One company, Eli Lilly, has already started manufacturing its antibody drug, betting that studies now underway will give positive results. "The success with our Ebola program gives us some confidence that we can potentially do this again," said Christos Kyratsous, a Regeneron microbiologist who helped lead that work.
Others working on antibody drugs include Amgen and Adaptive Biotechnologies. The Singapore biotech company Tychan Pte Ltd. also is testing an antibody drug and has similar products in development for Zika virus and yellow fever. Skovronsky said Lilly stuck with one antibody because manufacturing capacity would essentially be cut in half to make two, and "you will have less doses available." If a single antibody works, "we can treat twice as many people," he said.
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