Frontiers in Medicine (Sep 2021)

High Efficacy of Therapeutic Equine Hyperimmune Antibodies Against SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern

  • Andres Moreira-Soto,
  • Andres Moreira-Soto,
  • Mauricio Arguedas,
  • Hebleen Brenes,
  • Willem Buján,
  • Willem Buján,
  • Eugenia Corrales-Aguilar,
  • Cecilia Díaz,
  • Cecilia Díaz,
  • Ann Echeverri,
  • Marietta Flores-Díaz,
  • Aarón Gómez,
  • Andrés Hernández,
  • María Herrera,
  • Guillermo León,
  • Román Macaya,
  • Arne Kühne,
  • José Arturo Molina-Mora,
  • Javier Mora,
  • Alfredo Sanabria,
  • Andrés Sánchez,
  • Laura Sánchez,
  • Álvaro Segura,
  • Eduardo Segura,
  • Daniela Solano,
  • Claudio Soto,
  • Jennifer L. Stynoski,
  • Mariángela Vargas,
  • Mauren Villalta,
  • Chantal B. E. M. Reusken,
  • Christian Drosten,
  • José María Gutiérrez,
  • Alberto Alape-Girón,
  • Alberto Alape-Girón,
  • Jan Felix Drexler,
  • Jan Felix Drexler

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2021.735853
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8

Abstract

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SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern show reduced neutralization by vaccine-induced and therapeutic monoclonal antibodies; therefore, treatment alternatives are needed. We tested therapeutic equine polyclonal antibodies (pAbs) that are being assessed in clinical trials in Costa Rica against five globally circulating variants of concern: alpha, beta, epsilon, gamma and delta, using plaque reduction neutralization assays. We show that equine pAbs efficiently neutralize the variants of concern, with inhibitory concentrations in the range of 0.146–1.078 μg/mL, which correspond to extremely low concentrations when compared to pAbs doses used in clinical trials. Equine pAbs are an effective, broad coverage, low-cost and a scalable COVID-19 treatment.

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