Here is a publication on that subject: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abh0319

Yes, this is absolutely being explored. Nanobodies are great candidates for intranasal treatment as they are more stable to nebulization than standard antibodies.

Nanobodies are essentially high-performance natural antibodies selected from an immunized llama, so they would have the same basic properties as a given naturally occurring antibody. They will continue to be reactive against their original antigen or closely related variants.

Yes, certain amino acid functional groups within a nanobody's epitope are important for binding and neutralization. Mutations in SARS-CoV-2 spike can therefore reduce or eliminate neutralization of some antibodies, including nanobodies. But we have identified nanobodies resistant to common mutations.

Hi David, Thanks for your question. Yes, we will cover our automated liquid handling procedures in the webinar.

Cheers,

Fred

Hi Shahram, Thanks for your interest in this webinar. Our nanobodies are in preclinical development.

Cheers,

Fred

Hi Javier, thanks for your question. Nanobodies are ~1/10th the size of conventional monoclonal antibodies, they have a small, flexible paratope (antigen binding site), and lack a light chain. These features makes nanobodies extremely soluble and stable, simple to manufacture and store, and amenable to modifications, e.g., oligomerization.

We will cover the benefits of nanobodies and the differences between nanobodies and conventional monoclonal antibodies in the webinar.

Cheers,

Fred

Hi Alexandra, Thanks for your interest in the webinar. Yes, we will cover neutralization of spike-pseudotyped viruses and also of real SARS-CoV-2.

Cheers,

Fred

Nanobodies are based on the variable domain of the camelid antibodies which, unlike the common antibody, are comprised only of the heavy chain. This makes them quite a bit smaller (15 kda) than their parental full length antibodies, or antibodies derived from chicken, rabbit or humans. They also do not require to be assembled from fragments of the heavy AND light chains such as the other antibody fragments, e.g Fabs or scFvs.

see also the answer of the speaker to a related question below:

We define synergistic nanobodies as those which confer greater than additive activity (in this case, the neutralization of spike) when combined together versus when provided as monomers alone.

You can read more about this in our manuscript.

That's an excellent question! Nanotechnology is a broad field, so let me answer your question with some examples: nanobodies and small antibody fragments can be the basis for sensors in plant biology. Nanotubes, made out of single-walled carbon, are being used as a novel way to transform plants, bypassing the traditional agrobacterium based transformation.