Development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for coronaviruses

Respiratory viruses are amongst the greatest threat to global health, with coronaviruses (CoVs) causing three major human epidemics since 2003, including the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. While vaccines remain the best strategy to prevent COVID-19, neutralising monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) maybe useful for treating vulnerable populations before or after exposure to SARS-CoV-2. To date, most research efforts for therapeutic use of mAbs have focussed on Spike (S) specific neutralising antibodies and there are a handful of products already authorised for human use.

Most therapeutic mAbs have been tested pre-clinically in small animal models, but this is not always predictive of outcome in humans. There is, therefore, a need for a large animal model in which mAbs selected on the basis of in vitro assays can be further studied to help in selecting promising mAbs targets and determining how best to administer them in clinical trials. Pigs may provide such a model, we have already shown this specie to be very useful for testing influenza mAbs (1, 2). They are large animals physiologically, anatomically, and immunologically more similar to humans than small animals (3, 4). Pigs are natural hosts for several CoVs with porcine respiratory CoV (PRCV) exhibiting common features with SARS-CoV-2. Other porcine or related CoVs are a zoonotic threat, with a novel Alphacoronavirus and porcine Deltacoronavirus being detected in humans. We have established an in vivo porcine PRCV model in which lung pathology resembles the human (5).

In this project, the successful candidate will isolate PRCV specific mAbs, characterise their specificity, functional activity in vitro and test their therapeutic utility in vivo. This will give further insights into CoV infections and how to generate and administer novel efficacious therapies against CoVs in humans.

Open to any UK or international candidates.

A first or upper second-class honours degree from the UK (or equivalent qualification from international Institutions) or masters degree in a relevant subject area.

English language requirements:

IELTS Academic: 6.5 or above with 6 in each individual category (or equivalent qualification from other agencies).