ラマ、コロナ治療の鍵握る　ベルギー

【ヘントＡＦＰ＝時事】新型コロナウイルス感染症（COVID-19）の抗ウイルス薬治療法をめぐり、世界の科学者らは一見独特な手法を取り入れて、先を争い開発に挑んでいる。（写真は新型コロナウイルスの治療法開発のため飼育されているラマのウインター〈左〉と研究者）
　ベルギーの一流科学者らは、アンデス山脈に生息し荷役用の動物として知られるラマの体内で作られた抗体の分離に着手。この取り組みは確かな先例に基づくものだと強調する。
　ベルギー・ヘントにあるフランドル生物工学研究所（ＶＩＢ）のグザビエ・サエレン教授は、ラマはこれまでにもわれわれを救っているとしてＡＦＰに成功への抱負を語った。同氏によると、ラマの抗体由来の薬剤はすでに市場に出回っており、血液疾患の一つ、血栓性血小板減少性紫斑病（ＴＴＰ）の治療薬「カプラシズマブ」を例に挙げた。
　研究では、雌のラマ「ウインター」に新型コロナウイルスの表面に存在するタンパク質を注射し、体内に抗体を作らせた。この抗体は、担体を遮断しウイルスの脅威を無効にする役割を果たす可能性があるとみられている。ＶＩＢ研究員のドリアン・デフリーヘル氏は、「これらの抗体を患者に直接投与する抗ウイルス治療法を生み出すことがわれわれの目標だ」と話す。ヒトでの初の臨床試験は「今年末までに」始まる見通しだという。
　サエレン氏とベルギー人の共同研究者ニコ・カルワルト氏は、米テキサス大学オースティン校のジェイソン・マクレラン教授率いるチームと協力して研究を行っている。ＶＩＢはこの分野で世界的に知られ、ヘント大学傘下の学術機関として、製薬業界から独立して運営されている。
　ウイルスとの闘いの救世主になるかもしれないウインターは現在、ベルギー国内のとある場所で飼育されている。デフリーヘル氏は、「動物愛護団体を懸念」し、「彼女のストレス水準を低く抑えるよう、われわれは最善を尽くすこともしなければならない」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/05/12-12:58）

Scientists the world over are scrambling to perfect an anti-viral treatment for the novel coronavirus, and following what might seem to be some unusual trails.
Belgium's top researchers insist that their efforts to isolate an anti-body grown in a llama -- the Andean beast of burden -- is based on a solid lead.
Professor Xavier Saelens of the Flemish Institute of Biotechnology (VIB) in Ghent told AFP, that if it works it would not be the first time the camel-like beast has helped out.
There's already a drug on the market that came from a llama antibody, he said, citing caplacizumab, used in the blood disorder thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.
Now he believes his team are on the threshold of another great breakthrough in the hunt for a treatment, this time for those caught in the coronavirus pandemic.
Saelens and his Belgian colleague Nico Callewaert are working with a US team from the University of Texas Austin, led by professor Jason McLellan.
A female llama called Winter has been injected with a protein present on the surface of the novel coronavirus, first detected in China last year, and has reacted by developing antibodies.
These in turn appear capable of playing a role in shielding the carrier and neutralising the threat of the virus.
The llama had an immune response to this protein, said VIB researcher Dorien De Vlieger.
Our goal is to produce an anti-viral treatment would would involve directly administering these antibodies to patients, she said.
The first testing on human patients could begin before the end of the year.
Researchers elsewhere are working on possible vaccines against the virus, which would trigger recipients to develop their own antibodies against the disease.
- 'Secret location' -
But this could take a long time and would not be useful for patients already infected with COVID-19.
An anti-viral treatment based on llama antibodies would not end the crisis, but it is a promising route towards a way of helping the already sick and slashing the death toll.
The VIB laboratory has a worldwide reputation in the field and operates independently of the pharmaceutical industry, as an academic institution affiliated with Ghent University.
Its researchers had a head start on the coronavirus, having begun the collaboration with the Texas team in 2016 targeting more general respiratory SARS-type diseases.
But the fast-spreading and deadly new outbreak caused them to step up their endeavours.
The antibody extracted from the llama bonds with a big area of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which causes COVID-19.
This prevents it from penetrating host cells and infecting the victim.
It's an important breakthrough in the fight against COVID-19, said Saelens.
And what of Winter, the hero of the fight? She is being kept at a secret location within Belgium.
We're worried about animal rights activists, said De Vlieger. But we also have to do our best to keep her stress levels down.