Exton-based Immunome has submitted an application with the FDA to start human testing its “antibody cocktail” as a potential COVID-19 treatment, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal.
The biopharmaceutical company expects its experimental cocktail, known as IMM-BCP-01, to neutralize the newly discovered omicron variant.
“Immunome designed its cocktail with multiple points of attack to be resilient in the face of the rapidly evolving virus,” said Matthew Robinson, Immunome’s senior vice president of research and development.
The drug candidate carries three monoclonal antibodies that bind to non-overlapping regions of the spike proteins of the virus. The cocktail was developed using memory B cells from patients who have recovered from infections to identify a mixture of antibodies that are broadly active against the COVID-19 virus.
Immunome plans to synthetically produce these antibodies for use in broad patient populations.
“The pandemic continues to be a major public health issue,” said Purnanand Sarma, CEO of Immunome. “With the continued emergence of new variants, such as omicron, and resurgence in (COVID) cases despite high vaccination rates, we believe therapeutic treatment options for COVID-19 are essential.”
Read more about Immunome in the Philadelphia Business Journal.