XBiotech has announced that the candidate COVID-19 True Human ™ antibody could also be used for the treatment of the recently emerged and now rapidly spreading COVID-19 mutant virus in the UK across the US. The spike protein contains mutations in the COVID-19 mutant virus that reportedly make the virus more contagious, and these mutations could allow the virus to escape from the vaccines or the existing remedies.
XBiotech candidate therapy specifically targets spike proteins to the virus and neutralizes the virus’s ability to capture cells. The company analyzed their COVID-19 therapy candidate for its ability to bind the spike protein of the COVID-19 mutant virus and found that it had the same high affinity for the spike protein of the two COVID viruses. -19 original and mutant COVID-19. These findings provide rapid and conclusive evidence that the True X ™ candidate XBiotech, which was effectively effective in neutralizing the original strain of COVID-19, would be expected to be effective in to neutralize the mutant sex of the virus.
The new COVID-19 mutant virus has undergone modifications that introduce small differences in spike proteins to the virus. Scientists at XBiotech used a state-of-the-art method using biodegradable interferometry to study the binding of its COVID-19 True Human ™ antibody to mutant-mediated spike proteins. These studies showed the antibody bound to the mutant spike protein with the same high affinity as it is with the original COVID-19 virus.
Sushma Shivaswamy, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of XBiotech, said, “We are thrilled that our antibody therapy has the potential to treat this new, even more infectious, form of the virus. I applaud the hard work and dedication of our scientists who are working hard to address the new needs of this pandemic as we keep them on track to pursue other important diseases. ”
The Company previously announced that their True Human ™ therapy candidate for COVID-19 – isolated from a real patient who had recovered from the infection – was found to be neutralizing the virus at concentrations around on four times better than antibodies currently approved by FDA under emergency use authority.
The higher transmission rate of the COVID-19 mutant virus means that it could quickly become a major strain of the virus in the US. The CDC in fact predicts that the new variant will be a major cause of COVID disease in the U.S. by March, 2021. A potential treatment could be used to treat both COVID-19 infections. treatment and mutant rays of the virus become extremely important as the mutant virus spreads. The Company has engineered capable cell lines and is willing to establish manufacturing processes for clinical development as required.
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