Israel’s Defence Minister, Naftali Bennett said the country has isolated a key coronavirus antibody at its main biological research laboratory. On being asked about the latest breakthrough in COVID-19 antibodies, Ron Malka, Israel’s Ambassador to India said the details of the same are being awaited. He said that although they are at an advanced stage, the processes are yet to be finalised, news agency reported.
Malka told a news agency that India and Israel have gotten closer amid the ongoing crises, with both countries sharing their best practices in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. He also said that once things are finalised, Israel would surely share the details with the world.
Israel’s Defence Minister Naftali Bennett called the step a ‘significant breakthrough’ toward a possible treatment for the COVID-19 pandemic. The ‘monoclonal neutralising antibody’ developed at the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) “can neutralise it (the disease-causing coronavirus) inside carriers’ bodies,” he said.
The IIBR has been leading Israeli efforts to develop a treatment and vaccine for the coronavirus, including the testing of blood from those who recovered from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus Israel was one of the first countries to close its borders and impose increasingly stringent restrictions on movement to hamper the domestic coronavirus outbreak. It has reported 16,246 cases and 235 deaths from the illness.
