Winter lives on a farm in the province of Antwerp together with 130 other llamas. Four years ago, Professor Xavier Saelens and his team injected Winter with proteins from the SARS and MERS viruses. The researchers at UGent and VIB (Flanders’ strategic research center for biotech) wanted to find out how the llama would react to this injection, as part of their search for a vaccine against those earlier coronaviruses.  

“At the time, there wasn’t much need for a treatment against coronaviruses,” the team explains. “But now that COVID-19 is paralyzing the world, we are conducting the research at an accelerated pace. The antibodies that Winter created at the time now serve as the basis for a new antibody. UGent and VIB developed the antibodies together with the University of Texas (US).”  

“Our studies indicate that the antibody remains in the body for several weeks,” says Saelens. “This is an encouraging find, as antibiotics or antiviral medicines usually need to be taken daily or even several times a day. However, further trials are required to provide certainty. Afterwards, we can start tests on people from the end of the year.”  

One of the driving forces behind this breakthrough is doctoral student Dorien De Vlieger. She was working on antiviral drugs that fight influenza when Saelens and Bert Schepers (VIB) asked her if she could help isolate the antibodies in llamas. “I thought it would be a small side project,” Dorien says. “Now, the scientific impact turns out to be greater than I ever expected. It’s incredible how unpredictable viruses can be.”