A newly developed drug targets two components of the Nipah virus and provides protection against infection in hamsters. Additionally, the drug can prevent the virus from developing treatment resistance after infection. The Nipah virus, known for high mortality rates and severe symptoms, spreads from bats and pigs to humans, with no approved vaccines or treatments available. Researchers isolated a nanobody called DS90 from an alpaca, which neutralizes various strains of the Nipah virus and fused it with a monoclonal antibody, enhancing protection against the virus significantly.
"This is a revolution in the right direction," says Vinod Balasubramaniam, a molecular virologist at Monash University Malaysia in Subang Jaya.
The rare bat-borne RNA virus can cause respiratory distress, fever and fatal brain inflammation, with a mortality rate of up to 75%.
The team then fused DS90 to a monoclonal antibody currently in phase I trials as an immunotherapy for Nipah virus.
The combined antibody could also protect cells from mutated viruses that render them treatment resistant.
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