RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Monday that the country’s Biological Research Institute (IIBR) is developing an antibody to fight Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
According to the Israeli Times newspaper, Bennett said that researchers have already moved past the antibody development stage and are now about to start mass production of the treatment.
In an official statement, the Minister said that he visited the institute and was shown an “antibody that attacks the virus in a monoclonal way and can neutralize it in the bodies of patients”. According to the statement, the development of the treatment is complete, requiring only patenting before being offered to companies interested in producing it on a commercial scale.
“I am proud of the institute’s team for this major breakthrough,” Bennett said in the note. “Their creativity and Jewish minds have brought us to this great achievement,” he added.
The Israeli press had announced in late March an advanced stage of research on a treatment for the novel coronavirus. The country’s Ministry of Defense did not provide further details, nor did it report whether human testing had already been conducted.
Some 100 research studies around the world are searching for vaccines for the disease. However, there are still no estimates regarding the production of a definitive vaccine.
Data from Johns Hopkins University in the US show that 16,268 cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported in Israel, with 10,223 patients recovered and 237 deaths.
Source: UOL