For more than a century, the way snakebites have been treated has barely changed. Scientists extract venom, inject it into horses or sheep, harvest the resulting antibodies, and use them to save human lives as a type of antivenom. The method works—but it’s messy, costly, and region-specific. Worse, because the antibodies come from animals, treatments can trigger severe allergic reactions in patients.
Now, a team of scientists has developed what may be the most broadly protective antivenom ever created—and they owe it all to one remarkable man and his unique immune system.
In a new study published in the journal Cell, researchers unveiled an experimental antivenom made from human antibodies—specifically from a man who spent nearly two decades deliberately building immunity by injecting himself with increasing doses of venom from some of the world’s deadliest snakes, including black mambas, king cobras, and tiger snakes.
“When I was introduced to Tim Friede, and his remarkable immune history (which he did to develop broad immunity), we decided there was a once in a lifetime opportunity to study his blood and isolate the basis of a universal antivenom,” Jacob Glanville, CEO of Centivax Inc. and the study’s first author, told The Debrief.
“If formulated for intramuscular delivery in a ‘venom EpiPen’ form, which is our preferred embodiment, then it could also be deployed for more broadly without any IV requirement, including very rural settings or hiker’s backpacks.”
Finding Tim Friede
For Glanville, the challenges with delivering antivenom to rural communities were something he experienced firsthand.
“I also grew up in the Tz’utujil village of Santiago Atitlan in the Mayan highlands of Guatemala,” Glanville elaborated. “My experience watching how medical services are rendered in rural and relatively austere environments left a lifelong impression on how I think about designing medicines to ensure global access. Those considerations include cost, but also shelf stability, inventory cost, distance to treatment, simplification of diagnosis, simplification of treatment delivery, and minimization of adjunct therapies for treatments. All of these considerations are highly relevant to snake envenomation, where delays to treatment result in worse outcomes.”
The quest for a universal antivenom took a significant turn when Glanville was introduced to Friede. Friede was no ordinary volunteer—instead of relying on scientific institutions to study immunity, he had spent nearly two decades self-immunizing with escalating doses of venom from some of the world’s deadliest snakes.
Over hundreds of exposures spanning 16 different species, Friede had built up a remarkable resistance that no one else had achieved. When Friede agreed to donate blood samples, Glanville and his team recognized they had stumbled upon a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Building a Better Antivenom
The researchers began by testing Friede’s antibodies against a panel of 19 of the world’s most dangerous snake species, focusing on elapids—a group that includes mambas, cobras, kraits, and coral snakes.
“Our study was strictly non-interventional: we just drew two blood samples from Tim,” Glanville said. “We did not provide any recommended changes to his self-envenoming other than to provide documentation on the dangers of snake venom and the recommendation that he retire from self-envenoming (which he did in 2018). We had informed consent and an IRB exemption letter from WIRB.”
Inside Friede’s blood were antibodies forged through years of repeated exposure to lethal neurotoxins—natural defenses that could potentially neutralize a broad range of snake venoms. By isolating and studying these unique antibodies, Glanville’s team aimed to transform Friede’s extreme personal experiment into a groundbreaking medical advancement: a universal, human-derived antivenom.
To further boost protection against the venom, the researchers added a known small-molecule inhibitor called varespladib, which blocks additional venom components. The final cocktail—just two antibodies and one molecule—protected mice from lethal doses of venom from 13 different species, and offered partial protection against several others.
“We were surprised that for some species, neutralizing a single toxin was sufficient for full protection,” Glanville said. “Those venoms have multiple toxins, but it appeared that a single toxin was their most dominant contributor to lethality, at least in mice. Our combined cocktail ensures that all three of the major toxin classes in neurotoxin snake venom are neutralized.”
A New Era for Antivenom
This human-derived antivenom offers several major advantages. Unlike traditional treatments, it doesn’t require identifying the snake species before administering care—a critical difference in emergencies where every second counts. Because the antibodies are fully human, it could also significantly reduce side effects like serum sickness and anaphylaxis.
Perhaps most importantly, the new antivenom could be delivered as a single shot, possibly even through a muscle injection—similar to an EpiPen—rather than requiring multiple intravenous infusions.
Glanville, however, issues a warning when it comes to these results: “To be very clear: we do not recommend self-immunization of snake venom to anyone. The result of our studies is that it is not necessary for anyone else to ever repeat Tim Friede’s self-experimentation, because we now have extracted the basis of a universal antivenom from his blood,” he said.
The team is starting field trials by treating snakebite cases in dogs at veterinary clinics in Australia, where venomous elapid snakes are common. If those trials go well, human clinical trials could follow.
“Dogs get bit by the same venomous snakes as humans,” Glanville added. “Compared with controlled mice venom studies, dogs have a body size more similar to humans and get a dose from a bite that is more similar to humans. This makes it a more predictive model of human protection. “
More Attention is Needed for Antivenom
Snakebites are a neglected global health crisis, with the World Health Organization estimating over 2.7 million cases of envenoming and 100,000 deaths each year, mostly in rural and under-resourced regions.
Yet, despite the urgent need, developing and distributing new antivenoms is a massive challenge. Manufacturing costs, regulatory hurdles, and the economic realities of producing a medicine primarily for low-income markets can stall progress.
Glanville hopes that by partnering with philanthropic organizations, governments, and pharmaceutical companies, they can bring this universal antivenom to the people who need it most.
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry is a freelance science journalist and staff writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with her on BlueSky or contact her via email at kenna@thedebrief.org