After hundreds of snake bites, a man’s blood unlocks breakthrough antivenom

Self-taught expert Tim Friede has received hundreds of snake bites from some of the world’s deadliest species, usually on purpose, as part of a hobby he started years ago out of “simple curiosity.”

Now, scientists are seeing progress in using Friede’s blood to develop better treatments for snake bites and move towards a universal antivenom, according to a peer-reviewed study published Friday in Cell.

The origin story: Friede began injecting himself with small doses of snake venom back in 2000, in an attempt to turn into Snake-Man build up his tolerance and ultimately protect him from bites.

• Over the following 18 years, Friede injected himself with 650+ carefully calibrated, escalating doses of venom to build his immunity to 16 deadly snake species.
• He also allowed the snakes—mostly one at a time—to actually sink their fangs into him an additional ~200 times, often documenting the process on YouTube.

Friede’s ascension to superhero came in 2017, when he donated a blood sample to immunologist Dr. Jacob Glanville and his colleagues. Using the antibodies in Friede’s blood, Dr. Glanville’s biotech company Centivax developed an antivenom treatment that can protect against bites from 19 species of venomous snakes (at least in mice).

Looking ahead…Centivax, which now employs Friede as Director of Herpetology, hopes to further refine its breakthrough treatment for safe use in humans, and also use it to develop a universal antivenom covering all harmful snake bites.