November 16, 2021
The Kitasato Institute
Kao Corporation
National Institute for Physiological Sciences, National Institutes of Natural Sciences
Epsilon Molecular Engineering, Inc.
´ºÓêÖ±²¥app School of Medicine
In May 2020, a research group from The Kitasato Institute (President: Kousuke Kobayashi), the foundation that established Kitasato University; Epsilon Molecular Engineering, Inc. (President & CEO: Naoto Nemoto; hereinafter EME); and Kao Corporation (President and CEO: Yoshihiro Hasebe; hereinafter Kao) successfully obtained VHH antibodies with neutralizing activity against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).
Now, in addition to the above, a research team joined by The Sakaguchi Laboratory (Organoid Medicine) and the Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, both at the ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app School of Medicine, and the National Institute for Physiological Sciences, has revealed that intranasal administration of the VHH antibodies can suppress viral replication in the lungs in a hamster model. The efficacy of this method was also confirmed in experiments using human alveolar organoids, also known as "micro-organs." Furthermore, the team elucidated the binding mode of the VHH antibody to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein through cryo-electron microscopy analysis.
These results not only demonstrate the potential of the VHH antibodies obtained in May 2020 to become a therapeutic agent for COVID-19, but they also represent a significant achievement by showing the possibility of treatment via a new administration method¡ªintranasal delivery. This will help expand the range of treatment options for COVID-19. The results of this research have been published in the American scientific journal "PLOS Pathogens."
Please see below for the full press release.