Thai researchers' breakthrough: Siriraj patents antibody for Ebola haemorrhagic fever

[webfact]

Thai researchers' breakthrough
Wasu Wipoosanapat
The Nation



Mahidol Faculty at Siriraj patents antibody for ebola haemorrhagic fever

BANGKOK: -- A THAI medical school has achieved a breakthrough in the treatment of the deadly Ebola Haemorrhagic Fever (EHF), with the potential for commercial distribution within one year from now and boosting the world's hope of combating the deadly disease that has already claimed thousands of lives in Africa this year.

At a press conference, Mahidol University's Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital yesterday announced that this breakthrough was the therapeutic antibody for EHF.

"If we can produce it in a huge volume, we are willing to send it to patients in Africa," the faculty's dean, clinical Prof Dr Udom Kachintorn, said. At this point, the therapeutic-antibody production is still on a laboratory scale.

He said a new drug could be used in humans infected with diseases like EHF even when it had not yet completed the process of testing on animals and humans.

Prof Dr Wanpen Chaicumpa, who led the research team on this medical breakthrough, said her faculty would inform the World Health Organisation about this success in the hope that further cooperation would speed up development at the next step.

She said the antibody treatment was set to be tested on monkeys and humans in the next few months at a private laboratory, arranged via her institute's cooperation with the University of Florida in the United States.

Wanpen said the therapeutic antibody created by her team had many special characteristics. "For example, it is very small, is able to enter infected cells and is thus accessible to the intracellular virus proteins. It should then be able to help stop the virus production in the infected cells," she said, adding that her faculty had already patented the innovation.

Prof Ruengpung Sutthent, deputy dean of research at the same faculty, said one of the major challenges for further development of the antibody treatment was the limited laboratory capacity.

The research team now hopes the government will financially support further research on Ebola antibody development. It expects further research to require about Bt1 billion budget.

The team, for example, points out that it will need a better-equipped lab to conduct further research.

In regard to antibody treatment trials on animals, the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital plans to collaborate with Siam Bioscience Co. This biopharmaceutical company, partly owned by Mahidol University, has the capacity to produce bioproducts at manufacturing scale and to generate more antibodies under good manufacturing practice standards for further animal trials.

Meanwhile, the WHO said two experimental vaccines for EHF, being developed by GlaxoSmithKline and the Public Health Agency of Canada, look promising and have supplies ready to start human clinical trials.

Trials will be conducted on healthy people in the UK and the US, the WHO said, and would evaluate the safety of the vaccines and their ability to generate an immune-response in humans.

At present, there is no cure for Ebola, which is spread by contact with blood and bodily fluids of those infected. The disease is normally treated by keeping patients hydrated, replacing lost blood and using antibiotics to fight infections.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thai-researchers-breakthrough-30244670.html


-- The Nation 2014-10-03

[webfact]

Siriraj hospital has developed therapeutic antibody for Ebola treatment

BANGKOK, 03 October 2014 (NNT) - Siriraj hospital held a press conference on the first therapeutic antibody for Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (EHF) developed in Thailand.

This is the first successful production of an antibody treatment against Ebola in Thailand. Speaking at the press conference, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Clinical Professor Udom Kachintorn expressed concern over the severity of Ebola outbreaks. He said Siriraj Hospital’s research team has been on a continuous search for cures, and has finally arrived on what could be called a breakthrough to generate therapeutic antibody for treatment of Ebola, which is the most recent development in advanced therapeutics.

This discovery, along with the ability to perform laboratory diagnosis of Ebola virus infection, has further ensured the success of the faculty's medical services with an international standard to create therapeutic networks for complex diseases.

However, these prototypes of Ebola antibodies have been produced at the laboratory scale, which is inadequate for therapeutic use. Therefore, the research team has recently collaborated with Siam Bioscience Company, which is a Biopharmaceutical company that has enough capacity to produce bio-products at the manufacturing scale.

These prototypes of antibodies have been patented by the Faculty of Medicine of Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University.


-- NNT 2014-10-03

[webfact]

Siriraj Hospital develops antibodies to treat Ebola disease
By Digital Content



BANGKOK, Oct 3 -- Thailand's Siriraj Hospital Faculty of Medicine announced success in producing Ebola treatment antibodies and is now seeking a patent for the achievement.

Dean Udom Kachintorn of the Faculty of Medicine told a press conference that the antibodies produced by its team of researchers showed new technology as their structure was different from antibodies developed abroad and were noticeably more efficient.

However, they have yet to be tested on animals and people.

Dr Wanpen Chaicumpa, head of the researchers' team, said the Siriraj-produced antibodies were called human single chain antibodies and were five times smaller than normal antibodies.

They could efficiently penetrate infected cells and kill the Ebola virus quickly.

The faculty is able to produce a small number of the antibodies.

For general use, it could ask the private sector to realize the mass production, Dr Wanpen said. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2014-10-03

[cloudhopper]

The claims that this antibody is therapeutic are nothing but speculation.

Save the hubris until the test results are evaluated.

[Thailand]

Kudos if they actually have achieved anything.

But being an old cynic the requirement of new labs and a one billion baht cash injection may be the overriding factor?

[JohnThailandJohn]

After the potential treatments developed by US and Japanese researchers, doctors in Thailand have found a potential treatment for Ebola. In a brief announcement, Siriraj Hospital at Mahidol University claimed that doctors at the hospital have successfully produced antibodies against Ebola virus that can cure Ebola, Bangkok Post online reported today.

http://www.thehealthsite.com/news/latest-ebola-treatment-hospital-in-thailand-claims-to-have-found-ebola-cure/

[NongKhaiKid]

Kudos if they actually have achieved anything.

But being an old cynic the requirement of new labs and a one billion baht cash injection may be the overriding factor?

I wonder too if with Ebola out of control in W. Africa, 5 cases an hour in some areas, they are counting on the world being desperate enough to clutch at straws or in other words an untested vaccine.

[Barney R]

Snake oil again .Thailand is so much like the USA of the 40s and 50s with peddles claiming to have found the cure for every known disease ,fake monks,religion gone nuts, widespread corruption ,no real law ,destroy the natural habitat to make the holly buck and an uneducated mass kept that way deliberately by successive governments.

[Artisi]

Negative and more negative posts, let's give the benefit of the doubt until it is known for sure if successful or not.

[BSJ]

Negative and more negative posts, let's give the benefit of the doubt until it is known for sure if successful or not.

I am with you on this.....but there is that lingering doubt in my mind the previous posters are right and we are wrong!

[shirtless]

Lets hope this is not the usual grandstanding, Ebola could be a real game changer for the world.

[givenall]

Doesn't Thailand already have enough bad publicity to without add more edotic news

[petedk]

I don't know if they have succeeded in developing anti-bodies or not.

I have an American friend who did research in stem cell therapy at Mahidol.

He chose Mahidol because the research he was interested in was illegal in USA.

So I guess anything is possible.

[sirineou]

This is good news, let's wait and see if anything positive develops out of this

but Some people cant find anything positive to say about Thailand. If tomorrow it was announced that god revealed him self and he was Thai, people would complain about what terrible job he did designing the Giraffe

[binjalin]

why is there no international reaction? nothing on CNN? BBC? they will look so stupid UNLESS this is the one time Thailand actually gives something significant to the world and a Nobel will come bouncing along!

[jonclark]

Without wanting to be negative - The simple fact that these antibodies have yet to be tested on either animals or humans means that this announcement has very little substance. Any peer reviewed journal wouldn't touch this with a barge pole in the context of 'a therapy for Ebola' as that has not been proven in the slightest in humans.

HIV research has identified a number of broadly neutralizing antibodies, produced naturally by humans which are highly effective against the HIV virus in a lab under controlled conditions, but mimicking that response in the human body to kill HIV and purge it from an infected person is still the subject of intensive research with an estimated 5 - 10 years expected before it becomes a viable treatment or enters human trials.

But this type of announcement raises the profile of science in Thailand and that in itself is a fantastic but I just hope that they haven't jumped the gun. Like that Japanese group did recently with their stem cell cloning technique which was shot down in flames once it was peer reviewed. And led to lot's of apologetic kowtowing on the Japanese side.

[p_brownstone]

To me this is quite scary.

In order to develop an antibody - or even do research into doing so - surely they would need the active Virus?

What half-wit would deliberately import such a deadly disease?

I would also be very concerned about the security / quarantine facilities at Sirirat.

Patrick

[ukrules]

I'm wondering where they got hold of the virus so they would work on it.

How many recent Ebola patients have there been in Thailand ?

[ukrules]

To me this is quite scary.

In order to develop an antibody - or even do research into doing so - surely they would need the active Virus?

What half-wit would deliberately import such a deadly disease?

I would also be very concerned about the security / quarantine facilities at Sirirat.

Patrick

Secret patients ?

[sirineou]

To me this is quite scary.

In order to develop an antibody - or even do research into doing so - surely they would need the active Virus?

What half-wit would deliberately import such a deadly disease?

I would also be very concerned about the security / quarantine facilities at Sirirat.

Patrick

reported in the International Business Times UK eddition

"Doctors at the hospital told the Indian news website NDTV that researchers did not import the Ebola virus into Thailand to develop the treatment, but instead used less-virulent viruses that produce similar haemorrhagic fevers."

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ebola-outbreak-thailands-siriraj-hospital-creates-antibody-treatment-deadly-virus-1467727

[Kasset Tak]

I would guess that a big part of the 1bullion are needed for class 4 laboratory as they are the only one built and equipped for handling things like Ebola, Lasha and other viruses. There are currently over 1300 class 3 laboratories in US but only 15 class 4 laboratories and around the world there are about 55 registered class 4 laboratories so it's needed!

[kurnell]

I thought there had to be years of testing involved before a cure can be declared? Have they tried it on humans suffering from the virus? Is this like the claim that they can solve Bangkok traffic in 6 weeks or solving the flood problem by dropping boats into the Chao Phraya and turning on the engines to drain the river? This seems like a story you would tell to a gullible 4 year old.

[Charlie1]

Simply UNBELIEVABLE!

How can they state they've found a cure!!?? They themselves confirm that they haven't ever tested on Ebola virusses. Not to talk about testing on animals or humans.

So, I find it simply disgusting, to use a world-endangering outbreak of this terrible disease to collect $$$$$$$$$$ for new facilities.

Cause that's what it's all about.

Shame!

[p_brownstone]

To me this is quite scary.

In order to develop an antibody - or even do research into doing so - surely they would need the active Virus?

What half-wit would deliberately import such a deadly disease?

I would also be very concerned about the security / quarantine facilities at Sirirat.

Patrick

reported in the International Business Times UK eddition

"Doctors at the hospital told the Indian news website NDTV that researchers did not import the Ebola virus into Thailand to develop the treatment, but instead used less-virulent viruses that produce similar haemorrhagic fevers."

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ebola-outbreak-thailands-siriraj-hospital-creates-antibody-treatment-deadly-virus-1467727

In other words they have not "developed an antibody for Ebola" - they have "developed an antibody for haemorrhagic fevers less deadly than Ebola".

An embarrassing bunch of attention seekers.

Patrick

[sirineou]

I thought there had to be years of testing involved before a cure can be declared? Have they tried it on humans suffering from the virus? Is this like the claim that they can solve Bangkok traffic in 6 weeks or solving the flood problem by dropping boats into the Chao Phraya and turning on the engines to drain the river? This seems like a story you would tell to a gullible 4 year old.

Has anyone bothered to read the story?

"Prof Dr Wanpen Chaicumpa, who led the research team on this medical breakthrough, said her faculty would inform the World Health Organisation about this success in the hope that further cooperation would speed up development at the next step.

She said the antibody treatment was set to be tested on monkeys and humans in the next few months at a private laboratory, arranged via her institute's cooperation with the University of Florida in the United States.

Wanpen said the therapeutic antibody created by her team had many special characteristics. "For example, it is very small, is able to enter infected cells and is thus accessible to the intracellular virus proteins. It should then be able to help stop the virus production in the infected cells," she said, adding that her faculty had already patented the innovation.

Prof Ruengpung Sutthent, deputy dean of research at the same faculty, said one of the major challenges for further development of the antibody treatment was the limited laboratory capacity.

The research team now hopes the government will financially support further research on Ebola antibody development. It expects further research to require about Bt1 billion budget."

[sirineou]

To me this is quite scary.

In order to develop an antibody - or even do research into doing so - surely they would need the active Virus?

What half-wit would deliberately import such a deadly disease?

I would also be very concerned about the security / quarantine facilities at Sirirat.

Patrick

reported in the International Business Times UK eddition

"Doctors at the hospital told the Indian news website NDTV that researchers did not import the Ebola virus into Thailand to develop the treatment, but instead used less-virulent viruses that produce similar haemorrhagic fevers."

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ebola-outbreak-thailands-siriraj-hospital-creates-antibody-treatment-deadly-virus-1467727

In other words they have not "developed an antibody for Ebola" - they have "developed an antibody for haemorrhagic fevers less deadly than Ebola".

An embarrassing bunch of attention seekers.

Patrick

Say we ,

who are of course experts in haemorhasic fever antibodies

[AJBangkok]

I'm wondering where they got hold of the virus so they would work on it.

How many recent Ebola patients have there been in Thailand ?

I don't know but expect a lot more to come if they think there's a cure here.

[ggold]

Negative and more negative posts, let's give the benefit of the doubt until it is known for sure if successful or not.

I am with you on this.....but there is that lingering doubt in my mind the previous posters are right and we are wrong!

Exactly

A country where the world cannot teach Thais anything, Yet here we are and the Thais have found the cure!!!!!!!!!

Oh look mummy a pig flying.

Edited October 3, 2014 by ggold

[WhizBang]

This announcement seems somewhat premature, seeing as they have not started animal testing, much less human trials.

[rickirs]

It seems like almost every day after the military coup that we hear about another scientific or technological breakthrough has been made in Thailand.

I'm waiting for the announcement that Thailand has developed a new vaccine that will prevent people's infection from the virulent disease called "democracy." Currently, the only known treatment for the symptoms of democracy is martial law and restriction of human rights. But this is only a short-term solution as often democracy will reinfect people after a period of denial of freedoms and of persistent intrusion of government into people's personal lives.