A group of around 50 scientists have developed a synthetic molecule that they say can be aerosolized and used to protect against COVID-19. The molecule is based on a tiny antibody originally found in llamas, camels, and alpacas.

The effort is a collaboration between different labs at University of California San Francisco and other labs across the country, in addition to one lab in France. The scientists have dubbed their synthetic molecule AeroNabs, and have shared their findings in a paper recently posted to the Biorxiv preprint server and a website for Walter Lab. The work has not yet appeared in a journal, and a statement from a school spokesperson said the decision to publish online first was made due to the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"This work was done by an amazing collection of trainees and students who essentially worked tirelessly over the past four months and it's really their dedication that made this possible," said Aashish Manglik, an assistant professor of pharmaceutical chemistry and one of the researchers in the project.

In the paper, the authors explain how AeroNabs can be used to protect against COVID-19 by preventing SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, from attaching itself to cells found within the human body. According to the paper, this could be used as a prophylactic or a therapeutic agent in the early stages of infection.