To fight against the Covid-19, the scientists have identified a small neutralizing antibody, a so-called nanobody, that has the capacity to block SARS-CoV-2 from entering human cells.

The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, suggests that this nanobody has the potential to be developed as an antiviral treatment against Covid-19.

“We hope our findings can contribute to the amelioration of the Covid-19 pandemic by encouraging further examination of this nanobody as a therapeutic candidate against this viral infection,” said study co-author Gerald McInerney from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.

The search for effective nanobodies–which are fragments of antibodies that occur naturally in camelids and can be adapted for humans–began in February when an alpaca (animal) was injected with the new coronavirus’ spike protein, which is used to enter our cells.

After 60 days, blood samples from the alpaca showed a strong immune response against the spike protein.

Next, the researchers cloned, enriched, and analyzed nanobody sequences from the alpaca’s B cells, a type of white blood cell, to determine which nanobodies were best suited for further evaluation.

They identified one, Ty1 (named after the alpaca Tyson), that efficiently neutralizes the virus by attaching itself to the part of the spike protein that binds to the receptor ACE2, which is used by SARS-CoV-2 to infect cells.

This blocks the virus from slipping into the cells and thus prevents infection.

“Using cryo-electron microscopy, we were able to see how the nanobody binds to the viral spike at an epitope which overlaps with the cellular receptor ACE2-binding site, providing a structural understanding for the potent neutralization activity,” said study researcher Leo Hanke.

According to the researchers, nanobodies offer several advantages over conventional antibodies as candidates for specific therapies.

They span less than one-tenth the size of conventional antibodies and are typically easier to produce cost-effectively at scale.

Critically, they can be adapted for humans with current protocols and have a proven record of inhibiting viral respiratory infections.

“Our results show that Ty1 can bind potently to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and neutralize the virus, with no detectable off-target activity,” the study authors wrote.

“We are now embarking on preclinical animal studies to investigate the neutralizing activity and therapeutic potential of Ty1 in vivo,” they noted.

Telangana’s Covid-19 tally rose to over 1.38 lakh on Saturday with 2,511 new cases registered during the last 24 hours, health officials said.

The fresh cases pushed the cumulative numbers to 1,38,395 while 11 more deaths took the death toll to 877.

According to a media bulletin issued from the office of the director of public health and family welfare, the fatality rate in the state is at 0.63 percent against the national average of 1.73 percent. Out of the total fatalities, 53.87 percent had comorbidities.

Out of 1,38,395 cases, 95,493 (69 per cent) were asymptomatic and 42,902 (31 per cent) symptomatic.

Of the new cases registered during the last 24 hours ending 8 p.m. on Friday, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for 305, up from 267 the previous day.

The number of cases also increased in the state capital’s neighboring Rangareddy district from 171 to 184. However, it dropped in the Medchal Malkajgiri district to 134 from 190. Sangareddy, another district bordering the state capital, recorded 70 cases against 67 the previous day.

Outside Hyderabad and surrounding districts, Nalgonda recorded the highest single-day jump of 170 while the numbers went up by 150 in Karimnagar and 142 in Khammam district.

Warangal Urban and Suryapet saw 96 new cases each while 93 cases each were reported from Nizamabad and Bhadradri Kothagudem.

The authorities conducted 62,132 tests, taking the total number to 62,132. Officials said 29,132 primary and 8,698 secondary contacts were tested during the last 24 hours. The results of 3,145 samples are awaited.

The government has allowed three more private laboratories to conduct the tests. With this, a total of 17 government and 38 private laboratories are conducting these tests while the state has 1076 rapid antigen test centers.

The samples tested per million population rose further to 44,918. Officials say this is much higher than the daily testing target of 5,600 per day as per the World Health Organization (WHO) benchmark of 140 per million per day.

The health officials said 2,579 people recovered during the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 1,04,603. The state’s recovery rate improved further to 75.5 percent while the national average is 77.24 percent.

The number of active cases in the state stands at 32,915 including 25,729A in-home/institutional isolation.

Age-wise Covid-19 positive details show that 65.3 percent of those tested positive were in the age group of 21-50 years. Officials said that 24.71 percent are above 51 years of age. About 10 percent were aged below 20 years.

Officials said 64.41 percent of those tested positive were male while the remaining 35.59 percent were female.

According to the media bulletin, out of 20,396 beds under government, 17,666 beds are vacant including 1,553 ICU beds.

The government added two more private hospitals to the list of hospitals treating Covid-19 in the state. Now, a total of 196 private hospitals treating Covid-19 patients have 10,253 beds, out of which 5,797 are vacant.

India on Saturday recorded the highest spike of 86,432 cases taking the total tally to 40,23,179 cases, Union Health Ministry data revealed.

A total of 1,089 deaths were registered in the last 24 hours taking the toll to 69,561.

Out of the total confirmed cases, 8,46,395 are the active cases, while a total of 31,07,223 have recovered from the virus so far. With 77,072 recoveries in a day, the recovery rate has increased to 77.23 percent.

The number of patients recovering is on a steady rise over the past several months. As the daily recoveries increase, India has registered more than 60,000 recoveries each day.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit with a total of 8,63,069 cases and 25,969 deaths; followed by Andhra Pradesh with 4,76,506 cases and 4,276 deaths. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, and Bihar come next.

According to the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India conducted a record of 10,59,346 tests in a single day on Friday, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 47,738,491.

On the global front, India still remains the third worst hit nation with the Covid-19 pandemic while the US and Brazil lead the board with 62,00,518 and 40,91,801 total cases, respectively. India is a few thousand cases short of crossing Brazil.