LLAMAS could hold the key to curing coronavirus - yes, really.

A project co-funded by a Swindon organisation found that the immune system of animals like Fifi (pictured) are far more effective at fighting the deadly virus than a human's.

The llama antibodies release powerful chemicals that bind tightly to the spike protein and neutralise it. This surprising discovery opens the door to treating Covid-19 with a cheap and effective inhaler or nasal spray which contains the antibodies.

British scientists isolated the small but powerful biological ingredients during a research project partly funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the UK Research and Innovation's Medical Research Council - which are both in Swindon.

EPSRC director of partnerships Dr Andrew Bourne said: "Utilising the unique properties of llamas' nanobodies, this research could lead to an important new form of treatment for Covid-19 that is cheaper to produce and easier to administer.

"It is a vivid illustration of the impact that long-term discovery research at the cutting edge of physical and life sciences, as undertaken at the Rosalind Franklin Institute, can have."

Public Health England said the breakthrough has "significant potential for both the prevention and treatment of Covid-19" because the nanobodies "are among the most effective SARS-CoV-2 neutralising agents we have ever tested."

Vaccines are not enough to conquer Covid. More effective medicines are urgently needed.

HOW IT WORKS

A portion of the spike protein was injected into Fifi at a production facility at Reading University. It's found on the outside of the virus - infecting human cells by 'hooking' onto them.

Fifi did not become sick - but her immune system was triggered. A small blood sample enabled the researchers to purify four nanobodies.

Combining them into chains of three - called trimers - increased their ability to bind to the virus. In lab tests on cells they destroyed both the original Covid strains and the Alpha variant first identified in Kent.

A fourth nanobody chain neutralised the Beta variant that emerged in South Africa. Hamsters infected with SARS-CoV-2 showed dramatic improvements after being injected with one of the chains.

They lost far less weight in a week than untreated peers - and had a lower viral loads in their lungs and airways.

WHAT NEXT?

The scientists hope to start testing the potential cure on humans soon.

Institute director Prof James Naismith helped lead the project. He said: "Because we can see every atom of the nanobody bound to the spike, we understand what makes these agents so special."

The results in Nature Communications are the first step towards developing a new type of treatment. It could prove invaluable in combating the pandemic, said Prof Naismith.

He explained: "While vaccines have proven extraordinarily successful, not everyone responds to vaccination and immunity can wane in individuals at different times.

"Having medications that can treat the virus is still going to be very important, particularly as not all of the world is being vaccinated at the same speed and there remains a risk of new variants capable of bypassing vaccine immunity emerging."

If successful and approved, nanobodies will be an important treatment around the world. They are easier to produce than human antibodies and don't need to be stored in cold storage facilities, said Prof Naismith.

Human antibodies have been a key therapy for serious cases during the pandemic, but they typically need to be administered by infusion through a needle in hospital.

Lead author Professor Ray Owens of the Rosalind Franklin Institute in Didcot said: "Nanobodies have a number of advantages over human antibodies.

"They are cheaper to produce and can be delivered directly to the airways through a nebuliser or nasal spray, so can be self-administered at home rather than needing an injection.

"This could have benefits in terms of ease of use by patients but it also gets the treatment directly to the site of infection in the respiratory tract."

The researchers, which included scientists at the universities of Liverpool, Oxford and PHE, now hope to obtain funding to prepare for clinical studies in humans.

Prof Miles Carroll, of PHE's National Infection Service, said: "Although this research is still at an early stage, it opens up significant possibilities for the use of effective nanobody treatments for Covid-19.

"These are among the most effective SARS-CoV-2 neutralising agents we have ever tested at PHE.

"We believe the unique structure and strength of the nanobodies contribute to their significant potential for both the prevention and treatment of Covid-19 and look forward to working collaboratively to progress this work into clinical studies.”

Co-author Prof James Stewart, of Liverpool University, said: "The pre-clinical trials of the nanobodies in hamsters are extremely encouraging and suggest that they may be effective at treating Covid-19 disease as well as help prevent infection.

"Having therapies such as this will be important for populations that are either unvaccinated or where vaccination is inappropriate or ineffective."

The reseachers also hope the nanobody technology could form a so-called ‘platform technology’ that can be rapidly adapted to fight other diseases.

Prof Owens said: "When a new virus emerges in the future, the generic technology we have developed could respond to that, which would be important in terms of producing new treatments as quickly as possible."