A team from the National Autonomous University of Mexico has designed a recombinant antivenom capable of neutralizing toxins from Africa's most dangerous snakes , including cobras, mambas, and rinkhals, with results that surpass traditional serum-derived preparations.
The breakthrough, the result of an international collaboration and published in the journal Nature , focuses on camelid-derived nanobodies manufactured in the laboratory, an approach that promises greater safety, consistency and scalability, with clear interest for European global health due to its potential impact on cooperation and travel medicine.
What the researchers have achieved
The new preparation protects against a set of neurotoxins and cytotoxins present in the venoms of cobras, mambas and rinkhals , three of the most lethal snakes on the African continent, a target difficult to cover with conventional serums.
In preclinical trials, the antivenom prevented death and reduced local tissue damage, a complication that current treatments do not control well; this strategy showed greater safety and batch-to-batch consistency compared to animal plasma products.
The project was developed with the participation of 33 scientists from various countries, including the Biotechnology Institute of UNAM and the Technical University of Denmark , which reinforces its scope and independent validation.
How it works: camelid nanobodies
The basis of the antivenom is nanobodies derived from llama and alpaca antibodies , designed and engineered to recognize key venom toxins with high affinity.
Because it is produced entirely in cultivation systems, without immunizing animals, manufacturing can be scalable, uniform, and potentially more affordable , aligned with modern bioproduction standards.
Who signed the study and where was it published?
From IBt-UNAM , Edgar Neri Castro , Alejandro Alagón Cano and master's student Alid Guadarrama Martínez participate , with the collaboration of Melisa Benard Valle , in coordination with the laboratory of Andreas H. Laustsen (Technical University of Denmark).
The article, titled “Nanobody-based recombinant antivenom for cobra, mamba and rinkhals bites”, was also signed by Shirin Ahmadi and Nick J. Burlet , among others; it can be consulted in Nature through this link: access to the study.
Health burden and relevance for Spain and Europe
Snakebites are a neglected tropical disease recognized by the WHO that causes hundreds of thousands of deaths and disabilities each year, mostly in rural areas with limited access to treatment.
For Europe, this development is relevant due to its impact on global health, on the care of travelers and aid workers , and on possible alliances for production and supply; the regulatory path will include clinical trials and, when the time comes, international evaluation and prequalification processes.
What's next?
The team plans to optimize the mixing of nanobodies and their large-scale manufacturing, while also moving towards clinical application , with the goal of bringing a safe, effective and accessible product to the environments where it is most needed.
With a modular platform that allows combining a defined number of antibodies, this proposal seeks to replace complex formulations based on animal plasma, offering stable quality and contained costs to improve the response to poisonings.
The initiative positions biotechnology as a key ally against snakebite: a recombinant, consistent and scalable antivenom that opens the door to safer treatments and new collaborations between Latin America, Africa and Europe.