Celltrion Secures 38 Candidate Antibody Treatments for COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Celltrion announced on the 13th that it has secured a final pool of 38 antibody candidates for the development of a treatment for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Celltrion obtained these results by verifying the neutralizing ability to inactivate the virus in two stages, targeting 106 antibodies with high binding affinity to the antigen out of the initial 300 COVID-19 antibody candidates. Among the final 38 antibody candidates, 14 antibodies showed particularly strong neutralizing ability.

Selected for the government national project "2019 Discovery of Monoclonal Antibody Candidates for Novel Coronavirus Treatment," Celltrion has been conducting neutralizing ability verification since the 2nd in collaboration with the Disease Control Headquarters' Emerging Infectious Disease Vector Research Division.

Celltrion will now enter the cell line development phase for the selected final antibody candidates. Once cell line development is completed, mass production of clinical materials for human use will begin. Simultaneously, the Disease Control Headquarters plans to conduct efficacy tests on laboratory mice and toxicity tests on primates to expedite the development period as much as possible.

Additionally, Celltrion plans to create production cell lines for candidate antibodies with strong neutralizing ability to prepare for potential COVID-19 virus mutations.

Celltrion aims to start clinical trials by July. A Celltrion official stated, "Many multinational pharmaceutical companies are currently developing COVID-19 treatments, but Celltrion is leading the antibody treatment sector," adding, "Releasing the treatment as quickly as possible is our duty as a global biopharmaceutical company."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.