InflaRx enrolls patient to test its antibody in COVID-19-induced pneumonia

German biopharmaceutical company InflaRx has enrolled the first patient into a randomized clinical trial investigating the safety and efficacy of IFX-1, the company´s monoclonal anti-C5a antibody, in patients with severe COVID-19-induced pneumonia.

The company has received initial positive human data from two initial patients suffering from COVID-19-induced severe pneumonia who were treated with BDB-001, an anti-C5a antibody produced by BDB from the IFX-1 cell line, in China. Data from the two patients are part of a larger investigation on the role of complement activation in COVID-19 which have been made publicly available through a pre-print server and have not been independently validated by InflaRx.

Based on the company´s existing pre-clinical research on the role of C5a in viral-induced pneumonia and the initial results from the BDB study, InflaRx has decided to initiate a clinical development program with IFX-1 in COVID-19 patients with severely progressed pneumonia. The company has received regulatory approval to start the trial in the Netherlands and enrolled the first patient at the Amsterdam University Medical Centers. Subject to regulatory approval, the company plans to initiate additional centers in Germany and potentially other European countries.