Covid-19 roundup — Regeneron zooms in on cocktail; BioNTech shares skyrocket on quick Pfizer alliance
On the morning after the Bay Area ordered residents of six counties to “shelter in place” amid varying levels of lockdown around the world, here are the latest industry updates:
— Leading the hunt for antibodies that can neutralize the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, Regeneron said it’s assembled a large pool of candidates — hundreds of antibodies — from which it will select two to make a “cocktail treatment.” While the antibodies are being selected, the company will get its VelociMab platform in place to prepare cell lines for clinical-scale production. Regeneron envisions entering human studies in a couple months, with a goal to produce “hundreds of thousands of prophylactic doses per month” by the end of summer. All of this comes a little over a month after Regeneron first threw its name into the coronavirus R&D hat. Following this same approach has led the biotech to an Ebola regimen that bested three other treatments. In addition to developing antibodies that can serve both as treatment and as a prophylaxis before people are exposed to SARS-CoV-2 (an approach Vir is also taking), Regeneron has also rushed its IL-6 drug Kezvara — approved for arthritis — into a late-stage trial testing its ability to tackle the lung inflammation that results from the viral infection.
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