A new antivenom may neutralize 13 of the world’s deadliest snakebites

There are 600 species of venomous snakes across the world, and their bites account for over 130,000 deaths annually and three times that number of permanent disabilities, mostly in Asia and Africa. Because of the diversity of toxins, most antivenoms work against the venom of only a single species in a specific region, and possibly closely related species. Scientists have been working for decades to produce a broad-spectrum antivenom that would work across different types of toxins, but this approach has proven difficult.

In a new study, researchers report a proof of principle of an antivenom cocktail that provides protection to mice against bites from 19 species of snakes categorized as among the most deadly by the World Health Organization. All the snakes belong to the Elapidae family, which accounts for about half the venomous species of snakes (Cell 2025, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.03.050).

For their work, the team used the blood of a hyperimmunized individual, herpetologist Timothy Friede, who had systematically exposed himself to the venom of numerous species of snakes over a period of 18 years.

“I felt that if we could go and find those antibodies [giving him the excellent immunity], we could identify a cocktail of these,” says study coauthor Jacob Glanville, immunoengineer and CEO of the biotechnology firm Centivax. (Friede is the company’s director of herpetology.) The research team isolated DNA from Friede’s cells and created a library of more than a billion antibodies. The idea was to find the ultrabroad antibodies that protect against critical neurotoxins in snake venom.

The first was an antibody, called LNX-D09, that shows broad reactivity to long-chain neurotoxins (LNX). This antibody protects against the venom of four species of cobras as well as black mambas and king cobras. Next, for protection against PLA2, the second-most abundant toxin present in venoms from elapid snakes , the researchers added a synthetic molecule, varespladib, known to be effective against this toxin. The LNX-D09 and varespladib cocktail protected the mice against tiger snake and inland and coastal taipan venoms.

Finally, the researchers isolated a short-chain neurotoxin (SNX) antibody, SNX-B03, and added it to the cocktail, which extended full protection against the neurotoxins from the common and banded krait, mulga, and Eastern coral snake. Their analysis showed the cocktail also provided partial protection against neurotoxins from the Russian cobra, Javan spitting cobra, Arabian cobra, western green mamba, eastern brown snake, and common death adder.

Glanville admits that there are limitations in the study. The new antivenom covers only the Elapidae family of neurotoxic snakes, so it does not provide protection against venom from the viper family. Also, studies thus far have been conducted in mice that were given a controlled amount of venom. Conditions may differ in the wild and for other species. Glanville’s team is currently in talks with an Australian veterinary group to test the cocktail in dogs that come into the clinic with snakebites.

Glanville and colleagues are also working on adding a fourth agent to the antivenom cocktail to increase its efficacy. They are also considering using the same strategy to build a second cocktail that covers the viper family, they are seeking collaborators to help with manufacturing and clinical trials.

Kartik Sunagar of the Evolutionary Venomics Lab at the Indian Institute of Science, who wasn’t associated with the study, says, “It’s a very well-executed study . . . [but] only clinical trials can tell you whether this drug would be useful in humans.” He says human trials are also necessary to assess how well the cocktail would cover regional variations in in the composition of venom from the covered species.

He also raises a flag about the source of donor antibodies. “I have a lot of respect for some of these guys who have been immunizing themselves with venoms, but it’s life threatening, and inspires people to practice self-immunization, which is not a good thing.”

Andreas Hougaard Laustsen-Kiel, a biotechnology researcher at the Technical University of Denmark who is also not involved with the study, seconds the ethical dilemma about self-immunization, calling it “bad practice.” He adds that this work is a great proof of principle, but the cocktail remains far from a universal antivenom. “While many elapid venoms are neutralized, there are others in the same geographies that are not.”