Universal Antivenom Could Emerge from a Volunteer Who Endures 200 Snake Bites

The video lasts under 2.5 minutes. A slender man with thick hair enters the room, pulling a long black mamba that can deliver a lethal bite within an hour. He bites his left arm and moments later, extends his right arm towards a Taipan from Papua New Guinea. “Thank you for watching,” he states, as he calms down to speak to the camera while his left arm bleeds before it is bandaged.

For nearly 18 years, 57-year-old Tim Friede has injected himself with over 650 precisely measured doses of venom from 16 deadly snake species to develop immunity. He has also allowed snakes—mostly one at a time, although occasionally two, as in the video—to bite him nearly 200 times.

This coincidence, also known as one of its names, could aid in addressing global health issues. With over 600 species of venomous snakes across the globe, they bite approximately 2.7 million people annually, causing around 120,000 fatalities and affecting 400,000 others.

Researchers report that in Friede’s blood, they have discovered antibodies capable of neutralizing toxins from multiple snake species. According to Journal Cell.

“I am genuinely proud to contribute something meaningful for humanity and make a difference for people 8,000 miles away.

Deforestation, urban expansion, and climate change have heightened the risk of snake bites in recent years, yet antivenom research has not kept pace with demand.

“This is a more significant issue than the first world might realize,” stated Jacob Glanville, founder and CEO of Centivax, which aims to create broad-spectrum vaccines and serves as the lead author of the study.

Dr. Glanville and his team discovered that two potent antibodies from Friede’s blood, when paired with drugs that inhibit neurotoxins, can protect mice from the venom of 19 deadly snake species from various families around the world.

Experts not involved in the research consider this an extraordinary achievement. Most antivenoms can only counteract venom from one or a few closely related snake species within a particular area.

Nicholas Casewell, a researcher at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK, indicates that antivenom cocktails could potentially prevent fatalities and injuries from all snake families.

“The principles from this study can be effectively applied to other snakes,” he remarked.

Friede’s journey with snakes began with a harmless bite from a five-year-old garter snake, which sparked his lifelong fascination. “If I had known what lay ahead, I would have laughed at the thought,” he reminisces with a chuckle.

However, it wasn’t until he married and started a family while working in construction that he seriously began to explore his interest in snakes. He started experimenting with scorpions around 2000 but soon transitioned to snakes. At one point, he kept 60 venomous snakes in his basement lab.

His experiments came to a sudden halt on September 12, 2001, when he was bitten by two cobras, his emotions heightened by the previous day’s terrorist attack and the recent loss of a friend. Those were his first encounters with snakes without adequate immunity built up. While he initially felt fine after the first bite, the second caused him to feel cold, his eyelids to droop, and he lost his ability to speak. He awoke four days later in a hospital after slipping into a coma.

His wife was furious, while he felt frustrated with himself. He resolved to adopt a more methodical approach, carefully measuring venom doses and timing the bites.

“I work during the day, spend time with my kids and family at home, then head downstairs to work late into the night, only to repeat it all over again the next day,” he explained.

He faced numerous accidents, including unintentional bites, anaphylactic shocks, and power outages. Friede describes himself as a self-taught scientist, asserting, “No university in the world provides training for this. I’ve done as much as I could.”

Two scientific teams studied Friede’s blood over the years, but those efforts led to little progress. By the time he met Dr. Glanville in 2017, he was ready to give up.

Dr. Glanville was investigating what scientists refer to as broadly neutralizing antibodies as a foundation for universal vaccines, inspired by his upbringing in Mayan villages in the Guatemalan Highlands. He was intrigued by the potential to apply the same strategy to develop a Universal Antivenom.

Initially, he said his “humble” goal was to find someone like a hapless snake researcher who had experienced multiple bites. His quest took a turn when he stumbled upon an article about Friede.

“I had been eagerly awaiting this opportunity,” shared Dr. Glanville, expressing gratitude towards Friede.

In partnership with Columbia University vaccine researcher Peter Kwon, Dr. Glanville isolated broadly acting antibodies from Friede’s blood and devised a combination treatment.

Tests on antibodies from Friede’s blood against the venom of 19 snake species showed that one broadly neutralizing antibody protected mice from six species. When combined with a small molecule known as Varespladib, the second antibody provided full protection against 13 snake species and partial defense against the remaining six.

Cobras and mambas produce toxins that paralyze nerve cells, while the venom from Viper family snakes damages tissue and induces bleeding in victims. Each snake species within its family produces a unique combination of dozens of toxins, which can vary by region, age, diet, and season. It can vary significantly.

Despite advances, antivenoms are still produced using methods from 130 years ago. A small amount of venom is injected into horses, camels, or sheep, and the antibodies produced in response are harvested. These antibodies are typically specific to the type of venom administered and offer minimal relief from other snake venom types.

In fact, many antivenoms can cause more severe reactions than the venom itself, as mammalian proteins can provoke fatal allergic reactions.

Researchers are seeking treatments that mitigate these side effects. Cocktail treatments involving small-molecule drugs and monoclonal antibodies targeting critical toxic families are being developed—crafted copies of human antibodies that neutralize toxins across numerous species, according to Dr. Casewell.

Future plans include testing the Australian treatment on dogs brought into veterinary clinics for snake bites. Researchers also aim to identify additional components from Friede’s blood that could expand protection across all 19 snake species under study.

However, Friede’s experimental days are over. His last bite came from a water cobra in November 2018. He has since divorced; his wife and children have moved away. “That felt like enough,” he recalled.

While he misses the thrill of interacting with snakes, he insists it was not driven by painful bites. “I might revisit this in the future,” he reflected, “but for now, I’m content with where I am.”