Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN) shares ballooned Thursday, on starting the first clinical trial of its experimental coronavirus antibody drug.
Regeneron scientists evaluated thousands of fully-human antibodies produced by the company's proprietary VelocImmune® mice, which have been genetically-modified to have a human immune system, as well as antibodies isolated from humans who have recovered from COVID-19.
They selected the two most potent, non-competing and virus-neutralizing antibodies and have scaled them up for clinical use with the company's in-house VelociMab® and manufacturing capabilities.
The antibody cocktail is being tested in four human populations. Two groups of people will receive the drug to test its effectiveness as a treatment for COVID-19; the other two will receive it as a possible prevention.
"We’ll be hopefully to quickly test the safety and then start understanding the efficacy for four major different settings of this virus challenge," Regeneron’s chief scientific officer, Dr. George Yancopoulos, told the media.
Yancopoulos said he thinks that, "if all goes well," the company could have "definitive data" within a few months on the effectiveness of the antibody cocktail.
There are more than 7.4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world, including over two million in the U.S., according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. More than 417,100 people have died worldwide, with over a quarter of the fatalities in the U.S.
Regeneron shares popped $6.29, or 1%, to $612.88.
