'Instant immunity' to Covid, even for positives, from drug trialled in Barcelona

IMMUNITY to the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the very moment of administration and suitable for those who cannot tolerate the available vaccines could be the next, very valuable step in the fight against the pandemic – and clinical trials are set to start in February at Barcelona's Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital.

Researchers Dr Oriol Mitjà and Dr Bonaventura Clotet, team leaders of the trial run by the pharmaceutical firm Grifols, say the 800 or so participants are people who have tested positive for Covid-19 but are asymptomatic.

With over half of all contagions in Spain being traced to contacts who are positive but with no symptoms – meaning they did not realise they had the virus – treating these patients is a major leap forward in protecting the general public.

Grifols specialises in immunoglobulin therapy – blood plasma rich in antibodies which shrug off infection – and the 'vaccine' is based upon Gamunex-C, containing polyclonal virus-fighters, obtained through donors.

These donors have given blood for the purpose after suffering Covid-19, recovering and testing negative, since it is generally found that those who survive the disease enjoy short-term immunity, typically up to two months, whilst the antibodies their systems developed to fight the virus remain in their circulation.

The natural anti-Covid antibodies generated within a recovered patient eventually fade, which is why some people have caught the virus twice. 

Grifols' research team says injecting the solution subcutaneously – under the skin, which is relatively pain-free and easy enough for a person to do it themselves – at a local GP clinic would, if their calculations are correct, provide instant immunity and could be used primarily on healthcare staff, the elderly, and immune-compromised people.

It is designed to use on people who have tested positive, would stop the virus in its tracks and prevent its developing into a more serious condition, even in the very clinically-vulnerable for whom contagion would almost certainly be fatal, easing pressure on hospitals, and could help control outbreaks in places where Covid vaccines had not yet started or the double dose not yet given. 

The Grifols solution would also complement the vaccine, meaning those at risk who had not yet had the latter could be protected whilst waiting their turn. 

“This treatment with an immunoglobulin base would provide a combination of polyclonal antibodies which, compared with monoclonal antibodies, are much more diverse in nature and could well increase protection capacity against the virus,” says Dr Mitjà.

On the practical side, Dr Antonio Páez, medical director at Grifols – a world leader in plasma protein therapy – says: “The ease of storage in a fridge and of administration between layers of skin would make this potential solution simpler to distribute and use, as it could be given to patients in any GP clinic and avoid their having to travel to a hospital for it.”