The research has lasted more than a year and has allowed to analyze the viability and efficacy of the BIOL anti-venom serum of the Argentine Biological Institute.
 
After more than a year studying, a group of scientists has managed to confirm the effectiveness of a new polyvalent antidote against the venom of various snakes in the Americas. The study has been promoted by the CSIC, Terra Natura Benidorm and the Argentine Biological Institute S.A.I.C. (BIOL). The research consisted of analyzing the immunoreactivity of the BIOL-CLB antivenom serum of the Argentine Biological Institute against toxins produced by rattlesnakes and pit vipers such as Crotalus culminatus, Crotalus durissus terrificus, and Bothriechis schlegelli.
 
During the study, they found out that this antivenom can recognize the toxins responsible for the poisoning that is generated after a bite of the group of species selected for the study, although in the case of Bothriechis schlegelli this recognition is inferior. The group of experts has investigated the immunological effectiveness of this polyvalent antivenom serum by antivenomics thanks to the samples of biological material that Terra Natura Benidorm has provided.
 
The research has concluded that this antidote has a proven efficacy of three years, although it can be stable up to five years as usual in this type of lyophilized products. The project was coordinated by the director of the Structural and Functional Venomics Laboratory of the Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia of the CSIC, Juanjo Calvete; responsible for the poisonous animals of Terra Natura Benidorm, David Marti; and Dr. Juan Carlos López and Walter Escobar from BIOL.
 
The nature park created a bank of antidotes against snake bites in 2016, becoming the only one in the Valencian Community that has a collection of antivenom serum for Asian, American and African species. At present, the zoo has an installation with more than 20 poisonous species like the black mamba, the king cobra, the blown viper, the South American rattlesnake, the monocular cobra, the copper-headed moccasin or the moss viper, among others.