While there are many approaches to treating the symptoms of Covid-19, there are currently only two approved therapies for emergency use: monoclonal antibodies, and the antiviral drug Remdesivir. 
The SARS-CoV-2 virus uses the ACE-2 receptor on lung cells as an entry point, causing a cascade of events that can lead to the symptoms of respiratory failure or cytokine storm.
Because the ACE2 receptor is the binding target of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, it can be exploited as a key weak point in the viral infection process.
Most current vaccines and therapeutics target parts of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, like the spike protein, which is a common mutation site responsible for creating new more aggressive variants such as the UK and South Africa strains. 
Developing antiviral strategies based on the human receptor ACE2, where there is no mutation, is a simple and straightforward approach that will not be affected by future virus mutations.
We took lung spheroid cells expressing ACE2 and processed them to lung cell-mimicking nanodecoys that bind and neutralize SARS-CoV-2 virus. 
 One lung spheroid cell can generate over 11,000 nanodecoys.
The nanodecoys can be delivered non-invasively to the lungs via inhalation, making them convenient for repeat dosing.
In mice, nanodecoys accumulated and remained in the lung for over seventy-two hours without toxicity, and accelerated clearance of SARS-CoV-2 mimics.
In cynomolgus macaques challenged with live SARS-CoV-2 virus, four doses of nanodecoy inhalation expedited viral clearance and reduced lung injury. 
Because the lung spheroid cells used to create nanodecoys are already in active clinical trials, cell-mimicking nanodecoys derived from them have exciting potential as a therapeutic to directly treat Covid-19 patients in the immediate future in a way that has been impossible until now.
End slide: The lung spheroid cell technology, established by Dr. Ke Cheng’s Lab and licensed to Brestem Therapeutics, can generate therapeutic lung cells through a proprietary cell culture method, which is currently in active clinical trials for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.