SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Abcore, Inc., a leader in contract research and development of single domain antibodies announced a panel of functional therapeutic candidates they have discovered and tested for the treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Abcore has demonstrated these therapeutic candidates bind to the spike protein of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and functionally block binding to the Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 (ACE2) receptor.
Single domain antibodies (sdAbs) are a type of engineered monoclonal antibody derived from camelids. SdAbs are functionally similar to traditional antibodies. However, they are 90% smaller and more stable, making them ideally suited for therapeutic treatments. “As the global impact of COVID-19 became more apparent, we realized that Abcore was uniquely positioned to be able to quickly generate single domain antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus using our antibody discovery platform,” said David Barraclough, Chief Executive Officer of Abcore.
Part of Abcore’s antibody discovery and phage display platform is a proprietary, high diversity library of over 100 billion sdAbs. Abcore used its phage display technology platform to screen the entire library and isolate a large number of potential binders which were then biologically characterized. “Our company continued to work during this crisis and raced towards results. We are so proud that we were able to generate these candidates and apply for a patent in only 6 weeks,” said Jennifer Johnson, President of Abcore.
Once Abcore discovered sdAbs that bound to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, they were then tested for their ability to block the binding of the virus spike protein to ACE2 receptor. “When we saw the data showing that we had a large number of diverse single domain antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 that were biologically active and blocked binding, we knew this was important,” said Mary Dwyer, Ph.D, Principal Scientist at Abcore.
Moving forward, Abcore is planning to further characterize these candidates while also exploring putting in place a licensing agreement with partners to help characterize and commercialize these single domain antibodies into therapeutics that can be used as a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19.
About Abcore, Inc.
Founded in 2011 Abcore, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company focused on generation of polyclonal, monoclonal, and recombinant antibodies and is the largest camelid facility in the United States. Abcore is a leader in antibody discovery using phage display and generating single domain antibodies. Abcore has worked with some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world on early stage drug development and antibody discovery. Abcore has built a robust antibody discovery platform which utilizes both naïve and immunized antibody libraries. For more information, please visit www.abcore.com.
Contacts
David Barraclough, CEO
publicrelations@abcore.com
888-359-1364
Jennifer Johnson, President
publicrelations@abcore.com
888-359-1364