- ImmunoPrecise Antibodies (TSXV:IPA) has announced the launch of a potential therapy for the coronavirus outbreak
- The company developed the PolyTope mAb Therapy with its partner, EVQLV Inc
- While current efforts to find a vaccine focus on protecting the healthy, IPA’s therapy will address those who are infected
- ImmunoPrecise Antibodies (IPA) was up 6.85 per cent, with shares currently trading at $0.78
ImmunoPrecise Antibodies (TSXV:IPA) is launching a potential therapy for the coronavirus outbreak.
In collaboration with company partner EVQLV Inc, IPA has developed a unique approach, utilising PolyTope mAb Therapy.
The attempt to develop a universal therapy for COVID-19 was enabled by IPA’s diverse discovery platforms and artificial intelligence capabilities.
The current research strategy for tackling coronavirus focuses on producing a vaccine to protect those who are healthy. However, this does not address the needs of those who have already contracted the active virus.
Antibody therapies have the potential to be a powerful treatment option for COVID-19 patients, but there are drawbacks.
Current proposed options, such as polyclonal, sensitised serum, and individual monoclonal antibody therapies, have their weaknesses. They are potentially susceptible to escape by viral mutation, and are not likely to be effective against multiple strains.
ImmunoPrecise President and CEO, Dr Jennifer Bath, commented on the disadvantages of a traditional approach to treatment.
“Given the continuous increase in information on SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and higher than predicted mutation rates, we believe that traditional treatments and diagnostics targeting limited epitopes may present a significant liability for long-term efficacy,” she said.
The coronavirus, and other new related pathogens, necessitates the speedy development of treatments and vaccines that are broadly effective.
IPA has recognised that an effective therapeutic plan will require an approach that considers a range of factors. These include immune system involvement, predicted virus genome mutations, and attributes which may help to treat current and future variants.
While IPA can not guarantee that it will develop a successful coronavirus vaccine or therapy, the company remains optimistic.
Ilse Roodink, the Chairwomen of Talem’s Scientific Advisory Committee and Coronavirus Global Project Leader, spoke in support of the therapy.
“Our PolyTope mAb Therapy perfectly combines the benefits of using well-defined and fully characterised monoclonal antibodies with the essential need for a multi-targeting strategy to tackle this quickly emerging virus, thereby significantly accelerating effective clinical application,” she said.
ImmunoPrecise Antibodies (IPA) is up 6.85 per cent, with shares currently trading for $0.78 at 10:30am EST.
