King cobra to spectacled cobra: New generation antivenom to transform snakebite treatment

A new antivenom, which can give protection against multiple cobra species, including spectacled cobras, monocled cobras, and both the Indian king cobra species, has been developed recently by researchers.

The team, consisting of experts from Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Germany's Technical University of Denmark, said unlike conventional antivenoms, the new antibodies could be manufactured using microbial and humanised expression systems. Here's what you need to know:

What is recombinant antivenom?
According to the National Cancer Institute, 'recombinant' means 'created by combining genetic material from two or more different sources.' Researchers say that the new antivenom belongs to this category and is produced in labs. It uses biotechnology and is designed to replace traditional animal-derived antivenoms.

Conventionally, snake venom is injected into a horse or sheep, which produces antibodies in response. The antibodies are used in making an antivenom - considered the only solution to treat a snake bite. "Antivenom treatment has virtually not changed for over 100 years. This is the only next-generation antivenom we have now, which could tackle India's snakebite problem," author Kartik Sunagar, associate professor at the centre for ecological sciences, IISc, said.

Different snakes, different toxins
Each snake species produces a distinct cocktail of toxins that attack nerves, blood, or tissues, making it difficult to develop a unified treatment. Current animal-derived antivenoms also have drawbacks such as batch-to-batch variability, side effects, and limited species coverage, adding that their production is costly and outdated, relying on venom milking and animal immunisation, with low yields of active antibodies.

In the study, the team used camelid antibodies, which they developed in a previous study where camelids including alpacas and llamas were immunised with venom from African snake species. Antibodies generated in response were extracted. The researchers exposed the camelid antibodies to venom from different cobra species in India and found that toxins produced by Indian snakes too could be neutralised.

"This work provides a blueprint for how recombinant antivenoms can be tailored to different regions of the world by targeting the toxin families that drive disease in local snake species," author Andreas Laustsen, professor at the Technical University of Denmark, said.