AUTHOR=Barbier Mariette , Lee Katherine S. , Vikharankar Mayur S. , Rajpathak Shriram N. , Kadam Nandkumar , Wong Ting Y. , Russ Brynnan P. , Cyphert Holly A. , Miller Olivia A. , Rader Nathaniel A. , Cooper Melissa , Kang Jason , Sen-Kilic Emel , Wong Zeriel Y. , Winters Michael T. , Bevere Justin R. , Martinez Ivan , Devarumath Rachayya , Shaligram Umesh S. , Damron F. Heath TITLE=Passive immunization with equine RBD-specific Fab protects K18-hACE2-mice against Alpha or Beta variants of SARS-CoV-2 JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=13 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2022.948431 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2022.948431 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=

Emergence of variants of concern (VOC) during the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the decreased efficacy of therapeutic monoclonal antibody treatments for severe cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection. In addition, the cost of creating these therapeutic treatments is high, making their implementation in low- to middle-income countries devastated by the pandemic very difficult. Here, we explored the use of polyclonal EpF(ab’)2 antibodies generated through the immunization of horses with SARS-CoV-2 WA-1 RBD conjugated to HBsAg nanoparticles as a low-cost therapeutic treatment for severe cases of disease. We determined that the equine EpF(ab’)2 bind RBD and neutralize ACE2 receptor binding by virus for all VOC strains tested except Omicron. Despite its relatively quick clearance from peripheral circulation, a 100μg dose of EpF(ab’)2 was able to fully protect mice against severe disease phenotypes following intranasal SARS-CoV-2 challenge with Alpha and Beta variants. EpF(ab’)2 administration increased survival while subsequently lowering disease scores and viral RNA burden in disease-relevant tissues. No significant improvement in survival outcomes or disease scores was observed in EpF(ab’)2-treated mice challenged using the Delta variant at 10μg or 100µg doses. Overall, the data presented here provide a proof of concept for the use of EpF(ab’)2 in the prevention of severe SARS-CoV-2 infections and underscore the need for either variant-specific treatments or variant-independent therapeutics for COVID-19.