Rockefeller Advances Trial of COVID-19 Antibody Drug and Other Pandemic-Related Research

Theodora Hatziioannou – Source: Rockefeller University

The Rockefeller University in New York has begun human trials of a new COVID-19 antibody drug that, if administered early, could prevent people who have been infected from developing severe cases of the disease.

Development of the drug took place alongside a raft of other COVID-19 research initiatives at the university that have yielded useful knowledge and developments.

The new treatment tool promises to “stop the virus in its tracks,” according to Michel C. Nussenzweig, who led the project alongside researchers including Theodora Hatziioannou and Charles M. Rice, recent recipient of a Nobel Prize. Other Rockefeller research indicates that immunity from reinfection with COVID-19 might last six months, explores why the disease can lead to such devastating complications, suggests that the new virus variants may require updates to the vaccines, and uses lab-made “micro-lungs” to model how the disease affects the human body.

In April 2020, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) made a $3 million grant as part of its $100 million global COVID-19 relief initiative to support research related to COVID-19 at the university.