Oct. 24 Preclinical Quick Takes: anti-neuraminidase human antibodies for broad flu protection; plus Ionis-Baylor, Merck and more
Broad influenza protection by human antibodies against neuraminidase
A Science study from Scripps Research Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Washington University in St. Louis identified three human antibodies that could serve as templates for universal flu vaccines targeting influenza virus neuraminidase. The authors isolated the antibodies from an H3N2-infected patient, showed they could bind and inhibit neuraminidase proteins from a wide range of influenza A and B viruses, structurally characterized their interactions with neuraminidase epitopes, and demonstrated they were broadly protective in mouse models of influenza infection.
The enzyme is targeted by marketed small molecule antiviral therapies, but is not among the antigens that companies have considered capable of inducing immunity across viral subtypes (see “The Universe of Universal Flu Vaccines”)...