RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Bolivia is betting on developing a hyperimmune serum against Covid-19 based on donkey plasma that would help “neutralize the virus” in moderate and severe cases of this disease, which is more potent than plasma donated by humans.
Bolivia’s National Institute of Health Laboratories (Inlasa) is developing a hyperimmune serum using the plasma of three donkeys, the only laboratory in the world to use these animals to obtain plasma, said the laboratory’s technical director, Gil Fernandez.
The serum obtained from the donkeys is estimated to be at least “50 times more potent than plasma donated by humans” in counteracting Covid-19, Fernandez said.
The three donkeys that generate these antibodies to make the serum were “baptized” as AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, and Sputnik, the name of the vaccines with which the immunization is carried out in Bolivia.
The donation of plasma from people who have already passed the Covid-19 is a treatment used in Bolivia. In the past, patients’ past waves have been highly required by patients, and even rules were approved to encourage voluntary donation.
THE PROCESS
The process begins with applying a dose of protein S, which is a fraction of the Covid-19 virus, among other components, to stimulate the immune system of the donkeys. Thus the animals begin to generate antibodies, the coordinator of the production division of Inlasa, Williams Velasco, explained to Efe.
It was decided to use donkey antibodies because they are adapted to climate changes and to the 3,600-meter altitude of La Paz, where the laboratory is located, Velasco explained.
Then a series of “immunizations” are carried out on the animals until they have a “high load of antibodies.” The next step is “bloodletting,” in which a quantity of blood is obtained from each animal, and then the red blood cells are “returned” to the donkeys with vitamins, amino acids, among others.
After obtaining the animal’s blood, the hyperimmune plasma is obtained through a chemical process to fractionate the proteins of interest for Covid-19 and discard the others, thus producing a concentrate that is then sent to quality control, said, Fernandez.
The samples are sent to the Instituto Vital in Brazil for some tests to be carried out since that entity works with horse plasma, Fernandez continued.
The first bloodletting was carried out in March, in which 1 liter of plasma was obtained from the donkeys, and now the second one is being carried out to continue with the evaluation of the plasma.
This serum must be evaluated by the State Agency of Medicines and Technology in Health (Agemed) to obtain a sanitary registration to be available to the population finally.
BENEFITS
This serum would constitute “an immediate treatment” for “moderate and severe” Covid-19 patients since they are antibodies that have already been generated and which will help “neutralize the virus”.
It is known that other hyperimmune plasmas from other animals such as horses developed in Argentina and Brazil have helped to lower the lethality in severe cases of patients with coronavirus, according to Fernandez.
In addition, it differs from the plasma donated by people since the one developed with animals is a concentrate of antibodies made by several immunizations. In contrast, the one donated by humans does not have that characteristic on that scale.
That is why they are “optimistic” with the results of these first donkey bleedings that could become an alternative in Bolivia to treat Covid-19.
It is projected that a patient could receive up to two doses of this potent serum, but these details are not yet concrete; everything depends on the progress of the evaluations.
Bolivia has accumulated 334,824 cases of covid-19 and 13,566 deaths since the first case was identified in March last year.
The country is facing a massive vaccination by age in which 857,492 people have already been immunized with the first dose and 288,562 with the second, in the midst of the rise of the third wave of this pandemic.
Source: efe