Team of Scientists, Led by a Bulgarian, Isolated a Strong and Effective Antibody Specific for COVID-19

A team of scientists from the University of Pittsburgh, led by a Bulgarian, have isolated a strong and effective antibody specific for COVID-19. The results of all tests were announced by "Cell" - one of the most renowned scientific journals, which publishes only objective and relevant to science data. Prof. Dimiter Dimitrov is at the heart of the discovery.

"Cell" does not give a platform to everyone. It publishes only significant and very well-proven findings.

Prof. Dimitrov's team is among the most respectable scientific teams in the world. At least, because there are already several effective antibodies developed by them, with which viruses like Hendra and Napa are not as scary and deadly as Ebola. They have done their job against the first two dangerous coronaviruses. And it could be expected that they would try to outsmart COVID-19 as well.

Prof. Dimiter Dimitrov - Center for Therapeutic Antibodies, University of Pittsburgh: It was ready in a week. The viral sequence of the nucleotides was published sometime in late January, we immediately synthesized the viral particle, and sometime in late February we had the antibody. And we even had a patent. It was quick, quicker than everyone else. The other big companies found their antibodies in March. But we are a small group and it takes us a long time to characterize the antibody.

The development of specific antibodies for the treatment of viral infections is not a very popular concept. And it is not one of those discussed as a way out of the COVID crisis. But the Pittsburgh team is about to change the agenda.

Assoc. Prof. Andrey Chorbanov - Laboratory of Experimental Immunology, BAS: It is known that antibodies are entirely positive when...