Nanobodies for Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19 (Rout, Chait)

Nanobodies are a novel class of very small antibody-like molecules found in the blood of camels and related species. Because of their small size and simplicity, they can be manufactured at low cost, have high stability, low immunogenicity, and can be of very high affinity, making them excellent candidates for therapeutics and diagnostics. Because of their high stability, they can be a rapid point-of-care diagnostic and can potentially be used for inhaled delivery to the lungsStructural biologist Michael Rout and chemist Brian Chait will select high affinity and potently neutralizing nanobodies that bind to different, non-overlapping, epitopes on the target ? initially, the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Glycoprotein that is used to enter cells ? and then format these nanobodies as higher level multimers to improve affinity and test whether these have greater neutralizing ability. They will be further engineered to improve their efficacy and required properties. Michael Rout michael.rout@rockefeller.edu 212-327-8000