Taiwanese biotech outfit AcadeMab has broken new ground in the development of COVID immunotherapies through the development of a potentially life-saving monoclonal antibodies for COVID-19 patients using single B cell technology, shows the best neutralization ability (IC50 = 11.4 and 4.3 ng/ml) in both Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.2 respectively.
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AcadeMab treatment specifically targets the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant – currently the most common strain of COVID infections around the world.
“In a world ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic with rapidly mutating variants emerging ever so often, it is a race for the scientific community to develop new therapies in a timely manner.”
“We are excited to announce that our research and development efforts have paid off at a fast pace with our single B cell technology that’s shown neutralizing efficacy against the world’s most common and deadly Omicron variant”, shared Juz-Hsiang Chiu, M.D., CEO.
Despite high vaccination rates worldwide, vaccines are only part of the system of treatments to deal with the scourge of COVID-19.
The Omicron variant has been proven to show remarkable resistance to most of the earlier immunotherapies developed, such as Bamlanivimab developed by Eli Lilly and antibody cocktail of Casirivimab and Imdevimab developed by Regeneron pharmaceuticals.
As a result, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revoked or limited the emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for most therapeutic antibodies.
Studies conducted by AcadeMab have found high efficacy of their human monoclonal antibodies against the Omicron variant within 4 months.
In one of their studies, it was found that one human antibody showed the best neutralization ability (IC50 = 11.4 and 4.3 ng/ml) in both Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.2 respectively.
“We’ve also seen broad-spectrum activity in our treatment against multiple circulating variants of concern (VOCs) announced by the World Health Organisation.”
“Aside from its neutralizing efficacy against Omicron, this means it shows great potential to be a therapy of choice for patients infected with other COVID-19 variants aside from Omicron”, said Pao-Yin Chiang, Ph.D., the lead scientist of single B cell platform at AcadeMab.