In a piece of welcome news from Israel, the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) has reportedly finished the development phase of the COVID-19 antibody. The statement released by the defense ministry of Israel, the country’s premier medical institute has successfully completed the development of a passive vaccine for the COVID-19.
Naftali Bennet, the defense minister of Israel reportedly visited the lab based in Ness Ziona on Monday where he was briefed by the team of researchers. The research team is reportedly revealed a breakthrough antibody that could potentially attack the virus and neutralizes it in the body. The Israel Institute of Biological Research is currently working to secure a patent for its antibody research and possibly secure a contract for its commercial development. The legal procedures pertaining to the commercialization of the vaccine will be coordinated with the Defense Ministry. Bennet later spoke to the media where he said,
“I am proud of the Biological Institute staff, who have made a major breakthrough. Jewish creativity and ingenuity brought about this amazing achievement.”
Less than a month ago, the Israel Institute of Biological Research had announced that it has begun to test the anti-body based vaccine prototype on rodents. The Institute has reportedly sought the plasma of COVID-19 recovered patients which they believe would help them in the research of the anti-body.
MigVax completing the first phase of vaccine development
Another research team of Israel, MigVax, an affiliate of the MIGAL Galilee Research Institute, has also reported that it is close to finishing its first phase of the development of the vaccine for novel coronavirus. Earlier this week, it announced that it had secured a 12 million dollar investment from OurCrowd that will boost their path to clinical trials.
As of the 5th of May, the novel coronavirus has infected a total of 3,646,265 people across the globe out of which 252,240 have lost their lives battling against it. The number of people who have recovered successfully is around 1,200,282. 49,262 people are in critical condition. In Israel alone, there are 16,246 reported cases with 235 deaths and 10,064 of them recovering completely.
Source: The Jerusalem Post
