AbClon Initiates Solo Development of COVID-19 Affibody Therapeutic... 'Expecting to Shorten New Drug Development Process'

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Antibody specialist company Abclon announced on the 19th that it is developing a therapeutic agent using Affibody (minimum unit protein) that specifically binds to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Abclon has initially selected 20 types of COVID-19 binding Affibodies derived, and is intensively developing new bispecific antibody candidates in the shortest time by applying the bispecific antibody platform AffiMab technology to the new COVID-19 antibodies.

It is expected that the newly discovered Affibodies may also be effective alone, not in bispecific antibody form. Without the development of antibody therapeutic cell lines that take several months, clinical product development through mass synthesis can be possible within a month at the earliest. Therefore, the antibody new drug development process can be drastically shortened.

Abclon has already derived numerous human antibodies that bind to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, especially to the RBD (Receptor Binding Domain), the site that directly binds to the human cell receptor of the viral infection pathway. In addition, AffiMab-based bispecific antibodies form a separate pipeline expected to have superior efficacy compared to monoclonal antibodies.

The COVID-19 virus binding Affibodies specifically bind to different sites than those where previously derived antibodies bind, and through this, the virus blocking ability is expected to be doubled compared to monoclonal antibodies.

A company official explained, "The COVID-19 antibody TF team is simultaneously advancing multiple candidate substances to develop therapeutics in a short time," adding, "Generally, antibody therapies for viral infectious diseases often use combination therapy to achieve maximum effect in a short period."

He continued, "In addition to newly derived monoclonal antibodies, we are also developing combination therapies of previously derived human antibodies and AffiMab bispecific antibodies combining 'antibody + Affibody'."

Abclon has already adopted the Biosynergy strategy as a unique core research and development strategy and is applying it to antibody new drug development.

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