Dr. Davey Smith isn\u2019t absolutely sure there will be a cure for COVID-19 by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
But he\u2019s darn sure going to try.<\/p>\n
Smith, who earned a biology degree in 1993 from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, is conducting one of more than 30 clinical trials across the country that are pursuing a cure\u2014not a preventative vaccine\u2014for the coronavirus.\u00a0His trial is being conducted for the National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n
With all the antibody clinical tests taking place, Smith is optimistic that a cure will be found in 2021, but he still has the \u201cgood, healthy skepticism as a scientist.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey do look promising. I think we\u2019re going to find one of these that\u2019s going to work and probably more than one. We just need to figure out which one is going to work the best.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a clinical trial where we\u2019re looking for medications that can keep people from getting hospitalized or dying,\u201d said Smith, a virologist whose expertise is infectious diseases.<\/p>\n
To make these new therapies, scientists tracked down people who had a severe case of the virus but recovered. Some of these patients had developed \u201cpotent antibodies\u201d that could powerfully clear the virus, Smith explained. Cells that made these antibodies were collected from these recovered patients to produce more. In Smith\u2019s trial, these antibodies will be given to patients with mild coronavirus disease before it turns into a severe case requiring hospitalization or extra oxygen.<\/p>\n
For the trials, they tracked down people who had a severe case of the virus but recovered. In doing so, these patients had to develop \u201cpotent antibodies\u201d that boosted their immune system, Smith explained. For the trials, antibody cells are taken from the recovered patients and more are produced.<\/p>\n
The hope is to give these antibodies to patients with mild cases of the coronavirus before it turns into a severe case requiring hospitalization or extra oxygen, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone starts off with a mild or moderate case, but then it progresses. Some people can progress and get hospitalized and we have absolutely\u00a0nothing,<\/em>\u00a0no treatment right now, that can prevent someone from progressing. This trial is to try to find that therapy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In the past, this technique has been used to combat Ebola, HIV and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which usually shows up in children, noted Smith, who graduated from Red Bank High School.<\/p>\n Phase 1 of the trial was conducted by pharmaceutical companies, who recruited a handful of test subjects and injected\u00a0them with the antibodies to make sure they were safe. Smith\u2019s team is working on Phase 2, which recruits 220 people nationwide who have a mild case of COVID-19. Half will receive the antibodies and half a placebo, neither group knowing which they\u2019re getting.<\/p>\n The scientists conducting the test do not know who received the treatment and who didn\u2019t, so they don\u2019t have any preconceived ideas on who should get better and who shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n At this point, Smith and his team are conducting the research at 20 sites nationwide.\u00a0\u201cWe focus on those places that have the worst burden of the disease and those places that know how to do clinical trials,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n If the antibody shows promises against the virus, Phase 3 begins with a few thousand people being tested.<\/p>\n