The Covid-19 pandemic kills thousands of people every day, and people around the world are eagerly awaiting effective treatment or a coronavirus vaccine.
An investigational product called APN01 (human recombinant soluble angiotensin converting enzyme 2 – hrsACE2) could promise the promise of Covid-19 treatment, according to a new study by the University of British Columbia researcher, Dr. Josef Penninger, has shown that hrsACE2 can effectively block the cell door SARS-CoV-2 uses to infect its hosts.
The study was published in Cell. According to the scientists behind the study, the new trial drug has the potential to stop early infection of the novel corona virus. The study also sheds immense light on how the SARS-CoV-2 virus interacts at the cellular level and how it can also infect blood vessels and kidneys.
Previous studies have shown that ACE2 – a protein on the surface of the cell membrane – is considered the key receptor for the spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2. ACE2 has been found to be the key receptor for SARS, the viral respiratory disease recognized as a global threat in 2003.
The hrsACE2 will soon be undergoing clinical studies by the European biotech company Apeiron Biologics.
The study showed that hrsACE2 inhibits coronavirus exposure by a factor of 1,000-5,000. In technical replicas of human blood vessels and kidneys – organoids from human stem cells – the researchers showed that the virus can directly infect and duplicate in these tissues.
This provides important information about the development of the disease and the fact that severe cases of COVID-19 are associated with multi-organ failure and signs of cardiovascular damage. Clinical quality HrsACE2 also reduced SARS-CoV-2 infection in these manipulated human tissues.
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