EXTON, PA — Immunome, Inc., a Chester County-based biotechnology company, recently announced that their cocktail (IMM-BCP-01) retained activity against the BA.4/5 and BA.2.12.1 subvariants in pseudovirus testing. IMM-BCP-01 is currently in Phase 1b clinical testing in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and in locations where the predominant variants are BA.2.12.1, BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.
Researchers have long been searching for a way to effectively treat the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Recently, they may have found a cocktail of three antibodies that shows promise. The cocktail, which is made up of IMM20190, IMM20184, and IMM20253, was found to be effective in preventing the binding of the virus to ACE2 receptors, as well as in vitro testing with live viruses. What makes this discovery particularly exciting is that IMM20253 seems to be effective through an ACE2-independent mechanism- meaning that it could potentially be effective against future mutations of the virus. These findings provide a much-needed glimmer of hope in the fight against COVID-19.
Dr. Purnanand Sarma, President and CEO of Immunome, issued a statement regarding the company’s progress in developing a treatment for COVID-19. “We are pleased that IMM-BCP-01 retains effectiveness against the currently dominant BA.4/.5 and BA.2.12.1 subvariants,” said Sarma. “Further, as several existing antibody treatments lose their potency against the Omicron subvariants, IMM-BCP-01 continues to retain activity against these variants in preclinical testing and we believe our cocktail has the potential to play a significant role in managing the pandemic.” He went on to say that the company is looking forward to announcing topline data from their Phase 1b clinical study in the second half of 2022. These developments are encouraging news in the fight against COVID-19 and offer hope that a more effective treatment may be on the horizon.
The investigational work for IMM-BCP-01 was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) in collaboration with the Defense Health Agency (DHA) (Contract number: W911QY-20-9-0019).
Immunome, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company located in Exton, Pennsylvania that is focused on developing next-generation antibodies to treat cancers and other infectious diseases.
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