PR84084

MELBOURNE, Australia, July 1, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

Melbourne-based Affinity Biosciences Pty Ltd (Affinity), a privately held

company focused on antibody discovery for cancer therapeutics, today announces

the discovery of potent antibodies with therapeutic potential against COVID-19.

In March, Affinity commenced screening its proprietary library of one hundred

billion human antibodies to discover those that might neutralise SARS-CoV-2,

the virus that causes COVID-19. After discovering a number of candidate

antibodies that block the virus spike protein from binding to its human

receptor, Affinity engaged The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and

Immunity (Doherty Institute) in April to conduct testing using the virus in the

laboratory. The Doherty Institute has confirmed that Affinity's antibodies can

completely neutralise the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 at a single digit

microgram/ml concentration in a five-day virus neutralisation assay. The

antibodies have high affinity for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein at around 20

picomolar, driven by an exceptionally slow off-rate, a measure of how long the

antibody remains bound to its target.

"Our antibodies latch onto the virus spike protein and block its activity,"

said Affinity CEO, Dr Peter Smith. "These antibodies may be protective in

humans by preventing the virus from gaining a foothold in healthy people

exposed to the virus, and may be useful in arresting the progress of the virus

in an infected person by blocking its ability to infect new cells and replicate."

A highly effective therapy would allow faster resumption of normal life by

reducing the threat of infected individuals needing hospitalisation.

The next steps in the development of Affinity's COVID-19 therapy are:

-        Affinity will seek an expedited process to enable their antibodies to be

rapidly manufactured to the standards of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) for

clinical studies.

-        Identification of expedited clinical development pathways with regulatory

agencies (TGA, FDA, and EMA).

-        Discussions with governments, NGOs, and pharmaceutical companies for

accelerated development and commercial distribution. Affinity's antibodies are

in a comparative study conducted by the La Jolla Institute for Immunology (the

CoVIC program) funded by the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, launched in

March by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust, Mastercard, and

philanthropists (https://covic.lji.org/ ).

Affinity is also part of a consortium headed by the Walter and Eliza Hall

Institute for the development of biologics against SARS-CoV-2 which recently

received funding from the Victorian Government and the Medical Research Future

Fund (MRFF).

Website: http://affinity.bio/covid-19/

SOURCE  Affinity Biosciences

Image Attachments Links:

   Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=363860

   Caption: Affinity Biosciences antibody binding to the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein.

   Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=363862

   Caption: Affinity Biosciences logo