Candidate: Gamunex®-C
Type: Immunoglobulin
Status: Grifols said January 18 that it will begin a clinical trial in Spain to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a new COVID-19 drug based on Gamunex®-C, and containing anti-SARS-CoV-2 polyclonal antibodies from plasma donors who have recovered from the disease.
The new drug is designed to provide immediate post-exposure protection against the virus, and is envisioned as a complement to the vaccine in the early phase after vaccination. Grifols also reasons that Gamunex®-C could also protect senior citizens and healthcare workers as well as immunocompromised patients for whom vaccination isn’t recommended. The company added that the immunoglobulin could also help contain outbreaks in places where vaccination hasn’t begun or is still underway.
Grifols said it expected the clinical trial to begin in February 2021, with results possibly available in the spring. The trial will be led by Oriol Mitjà, MD,PhD, and Bonaventura Clotet, MD, PhD, both of Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital in Barcelona.
About 800 patients, all asymptomatic but having tested positive for the virus in a diagnostic test, will participate in the clinical study, receiving subcutaneously Grifols’ immunoglobulin rich with anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.
COVID-19: 300 Candidates and Counting
To navigate through the >300 potential therapeutic and vaccine options for COVID-19, GEN has grouped the candidates into four broad categories based on their developmental and (where applicable) clinical progress:
● FRONT RUNNER – the most promising therapeutics/vaccines based on clinical progress, favorable data or both.
● DEFINITELY MAYBE – earlier phases with promising partners, or more advanced candidates in development that have generated uneven data.
● KEEPING AN EYE ON… – interesting technology, attracting notable partners, or both, but preliminary data.
● TOO SOON TO TELL – longshots pending additional experimental and/or clinical data.
GEN has also tagged the most common treatment types:
● ANTIVIRAL
● VAX
● ANTIBODY
● RNA
