A new treatment with monoclonal antibodies could soon see the light of day and it would be developed in part by teams from Normandy.
On Wednesday March 10, the Angany laboratory, based in the city of Val-de-Reuil (Eure), jointly announced with the Amsterdam University Medical Centers, which monitor the evolution of Covid-19 variants, "an advance significant in the accelerated development of a product that is both curative and preventive consisting of monoclonal antibodies with high neutralizing potential (NAbs) against the COVID-19 virus and its variants.
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These synthetic antibodies developed to prevent serious forms of the disease were produced in a research unit at Angany, a Franco-Canadian company specializing in the fight against allergies through its research in biotechnology, immunology and vaccinology, but which also has "Worked in an emergency" to respond to the fight against Sars-CoV-2, the virus at the origin of Covid-19.
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Other treatments with monoclonal antibodies, which mimic the immune reaction of our body, have been developed in recent months and France has already started administering them, "with caution" and in hospitals.
At the end of February, the government also announced the arrival by mid-March of "tens of thousands of doses of monoclonal antibodies from a higher generation" - products developed by the Americans Eli Lilly and Regeneron - administered to people whose 'state of health "exposes them to particularly high risks of serious forms".
"We would like to move on to clinical trials"
According to the press release published by Angany, the cocktail of monoclonal antibodies developed here "demonstrates a strong neutralizing power to counter COVID-19 and its variants".
It could be used to treat patients who are sick or at risk or come into prevention, "to protect healthcare personnel and first responders against emerging variants or when vaccination coverage has not been established".
“By early spring 2020, we had isolated several antibodies from infected patients and identified two as being among the most potent NAbs in vivo,” said Professor Sanders, University Medical Centers Amsterdam, in the statement.
"And these antibodies have demonstrated their effectiveness, in particular on primates", explains to the "Parisian" - "Today in France" Véronique Gomord, scientific director of Angany.
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According to the scientist, the laboratory is in discussion with the government and the Region: “Because we would like to move on to clinical trials and the installation of production units, light enough to assemble, ideally in Normandy and Canada.
If these discussions are successful, the drug could reach the market within 7 or 8 months ”.