Synthetic antibodies that researchers believe neutralize the coronavirus have been created at UCSF and could be available for use in nose sprays or inhalers within a few months if clinical trials go well.

The tiny, engineered protein molecules, developed in two UCSF laboratories by a team of 60 scientists, including doctoral and graduate students, are modeled after super-strength antibodies found in llamas and camels.

It binds to the spike protein so tightly that it basically never lets go,” said Peter Walter, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF and co-inventor of the AeroNab molecules.

It was possible to create, he said, because there were already about 2 billion different synthetic molecules, or nanobodies, in databases.

The AeroNabs formulation is particularly valuable because it can be self-administered as a nasal spray or breathed in aerosol form through an inhaler.

The UCSF research team is in discussions with pharmaceutical companies and other potential commercial partners to ramp up manufacturing and clinical testing of AeroNabs.

Robert Siegel, an infectious-disease specialist at Stanford University who is unaffiliated with the study, said the UCSF research is an example of the kinds of innovative technological advances inspired by the pandemic.

Walter, the co-inventor of AeroNabs, said, “We’ve engineered these molecules to a stage that we think it is as good as can be.