(26 April 2020) Human recombinant soluble ACE 2 enzyme – hrsACE2 can block early entry of SARS-CoV-2 infections in host cells

Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Infections in Engineered Human Tissues Using Clinical-Grade Soluble Human ACE2

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.004

Authors report that clinical grade hrsACE2 reduced SARS-CoV-2 recovery from Vero cells by a factor of 1,000–5,000. An equivalent mouse rsACE2 had no effect. They also show that SARSCoV-2 can directly infect engineered human blood vessel organoids and human kidney organoids, which can be inhibited by hrsACE2. The data demonstrates that hrsACE2 can significantly block early stages of SARS-CoV-2 infections.