Candidate: COVID-19 immunotherapy
Category: ANTIBODY
Type: SARS-CoV-2-specific virus-neutralizing antibody, to be selected.
Status: Memo said June 4 that it had identified “several” SARS-CoV-2-specific virus-neutralizing antibodies with the potential for development as a COVID-19 immunotherapy. The “ultra-rare” antibodies showed superior virus-neutralizing activity within just six weeks of enrollment of the first of hundreds of Swiss COVID-19 patients—with the most promising donors being those who demonstrated a clinical course of COVID-19 indicative of a particularly potent antibody response, Memo said.
Blood samples were collected from the clinically selected donors and used with Memo’s microfluidic DROPZYLLA® discovery platform to identify SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing antibodies. DROPZYLLA enables the generation of complete recombinant human antibody repertoires, preserving all specificities present in each of the patient’s B cells, according to the company.
The most potent of the antibodies studied will undergo clinical development as a passive immunotherapy for COVID-19, with a clinical proof-of-concept study anticipated for the fourth quarter, Memo added.
COVID-19: 200 Candidates and Counting
To navigate through the >200 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
