Lobsters have a blood-like substance in their bodies called hemolymph that contains hemocyanin, a protein that carries oxygen to the lobster’s cells. The hemocyanin has anti-viral and immune-boosting properties, and already is being used in the development of cancer vaccines and treatments, according to Bayer.

Lobster Unlimited has developed a topical skin product — which is not yet on the market — that can be used to treat warts and shingles, both of which are caused by viruses, Bayer said.

“We’ve tried it on things like shingles, and it works,” he said.

The substance could also be effective against viruses that cause herpes, ebola, measles or colds. In October, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued Lobster Unlimited a patent related to its work after experiments showed the substance can reduce the viral load of herpes simplex virus-infected cells, according to documents the company filed with the federal agency.

Whether hemocyanin might be an effective treatment for coronaviruses — the family of viruses that cause SARS and COVID-19 — is “far from a sure thing,” Bayer said, but nonetheless is worth testing.

“They appear to be effective against a variety of viruses, but have not been tested for efficacy on corona varieties,” Bayer said. “A simple test that needs bio-security would give us an answer.”

Other studies have shown that hemocyanin from other kinds of shellfish — including shrimp, oysters, horseshoe crabs and abalone — also has anti-viral properties, Bayer said.

One practical advantage to using lobster hemocyanin is that there’s already a significant supply of it passing through the regional seafood processing industry.

Each year roughly 2 million gallons of hemolymph, and all the hemocyanin it contains, run down the drain as waste at plants that process lobster into consumer seafood products, he said.

“Every processing plant in Maine and Canada has [hemolymph] all over the floor,” Bayer said. “I probably have a couple of gallons in my freezer. If it works [to treat COVID-19, large quantities] could be made available almost immediately.”

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