Immunoglobulin fragment F(ab’)₂against RBD potently neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 in vitro

COVID-19 caused by the emerging human coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has become a global pandemic, leading a serious threat to human health. So far, there is none vaccines or specific antiviral drugs approved for that. Therapeutic antibodies for SARS-CoV-2, was obtained from hyper immune equine plasma in this study. Herein, SARS-CoV-2 RBD with gram level were obtained through Chinese hamster ovary cells high-density fermentation. The binding of RBD to SARS-CoV-2 receptor, human ACE2, was verified and the efficacy of RBD in vivo was tested on mice and then on horses. As a result, RBD triggered high-titer neutralizing antibodies in vivo, and immunoglobulin fragment F(ab’)₂was prepared from horse antisera through removing Fc. Neutralization test demonstrated that RBD-specific F(ab’)₂inhibited SARS-CoV-2 with EC₅₀at 0.07 μg/ml, showing a potent inhibitory effect on SARS-CoV-2. These results highlights as RBD-specific F(ab’)₂as therapeutic candidate for SARS-CoV-2.