Developing nanobody therapies that prevent or treat viral infection

Neutralizing nanobodies represents an attractive strategy, Brooke said, due to their ability to work effectively against an entire family of viruses or variants.

“We can take advantage of the fact that virus families tend to interact with immune response in the same way,” Brooke said. “This makes our treatments rapidly adaptable to all variants of a virus.”

Nanobodies are modular, meaning they can be combined with other nanobodies to increase their ability to bind to the virus or target specific tissues. Nanobodies can also be produced as smaller versions of conventional antibodies with the ability to engage the immune response.

Additionally, due to the small size of the nanobodies, they can be released into the blood and penetrate tissues more thoroughly than conventional antibodies. Nanobody therapies can also target an infection site directly, decreasing the dose needed and increasing efficacy.

Nanobodies can also be administered via aerosol, so they can be given to a patient orally or in an inhalable form. Conventional antibody treatments are less versatile and must be received through injection only.

“All of these qualities and features of nanobodies make nanobody therapies more effective than current solutions. These treatments are also easier and cheaper to manufacture,” Brooke said, “making Sandia’s method for developing and characterizing novel neutralizing antibodies an invaluable addition to the toolset for combatting the COVID-19 pandemic and future health crises.”

National recognition

Sandia’s research on nanobodies for emerging viruses received national recognition in October as a recipient of a 2021 R&D 100 Award, which honors the 100 most technologically significant products and advancements in the past year.

This research also received acclamation at the 2021 National Lab Accelerator Pitch Event, where scientists present seasoned investors with business model ideas based on innovations at the DOE laboratories. A video of Sandia’s presentation at the event can be viewed here.

One role of the national laboratories is to develop innovative technologies and commercialize the underlying intellectual property through licensing agreements with companies. The labs also engage the expertise of industry and academia to further develop technology using cooperative research and development agreements. Sandia is currently exploring multiple opportunities for licensing this research and partnering with others in the bio and chemical defense, diagnostics and medical research fields.