Bushviper wrote:How soon can this be put into place so that lives can be saved? I was surprised that the "old methods" worked better than the "new methods".
Do you think you will run into the allergic reaction problem using this antivenom?
Hi BV,
Clinical trials are starting in August. They'll take 2-3 years to complete.
The use of whole IgG in other antivenoms (e.g.: Costa Rica and Nigeria) hasn't been associated with significantly higher reaction rates.
The preparation itself is very clean, and there is actually some evidence in other published studies to suggest that it is the whole IgG that has the most effective binding to larger toxins, such as procoagulants. Our data certainly shows our antivenom being more effective against taipan procoagulant than the CSL F(ab')2 antivenom is, which tends to support this concept.
Watch this space for future publications when the clinical trials are completed.
The important message from this paper though is that, if we can raise an extremely potent antivenom against an extremely potent elapid venom in Australasia, and deliver it as an affordable 1 vial per patient treatment, there is no reason whatsoever why we could not do the same for African or Asian snake species!
Think about those possibilities ... we already are!
Cheers
David