America is flying blind in detecting new coronavirus variants, experts warn
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Officials have identified a new, more-contagious variant of the novel coronavirus in the United States and roughly 44 other countries, but experts worry that the United States and other countries have been slow to track the variant s spread meaning they could be unaware of how widespread the variant already may be.
A lack of tracking
Officials first discovered the new variant, called B 1.1.7, in the United Kingdom in December 2020. Since then, officials also have detected the new variant in a small handful of U.S. states.
However, many public health experts have warned that the United States doesn t yet possess the robust surveillance program needed to determine how widespread the variant actually is in America, and therefore is flying blind when it comes to addressing it, the
DiosCURE to Develop Highly Specific Single-Chain Antibodies Against SARS-CoV-2, Lead Candidates Described in Science Publication
Core technology includes promising bivalent single-domain antibodies simultaneously targeting two surface structures of the viral spike protein.
Lead candidates DIOS-202 and DIOS-203 are engineered for high potency and their potential to avoid the emergence of escape mutants.
DIOS-202 and DIOS-203 entered into accelerated development to initiate clinical studies later this year.
DiosCURE Therapeutics SE announced a publication in Science describing its core technology of multivalent single-chain antibodies with a unique molecular mode-of-action to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 virions. An international team led by scientists at the University of Bonn developed and characterized the lead candidates, which are exclusively licensed by DiosCURE.
Researchers have stitched together nanobodies (green and red) that bind to two different places on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Image by Hrishikesh.