Costa Rica researchers to trial coronavirus treatment from horse antibodies

A worker from the Clodomiro Picado Institute looks at the blood he draws from a horse for a trial to produce a treatment for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in San Jose, Costa Rica August 3, 2020. REUTERS/Juan Carlos Ulate

SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Researchers in Costa Rica are due to begin trials of an inexpensive coronavirus treatment based on antibodies taken from horses injected with the SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to scientists.

Developed by University of Costa Rica's Clodomiro Picado Institute (ICP), the equine antibodies medication is to be tested on 26 patients from mid-September, Roman Macaya, president of the Social Security Fund that manages public health centers, told Reuters.