Celltrion Announces Positive Phase 1 Results for COVID-19 Antibody Therapy

South Korea-based Celltrion Healthcare announced the result of Phase 1 clinical trial of a monoclonal antibody treatment candidate (CT-P59) targeting SARS-COV-2 at the 2020 fall Conference of the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases on November 5th. CT-P59 has shown promise in the tolerability, safety, and efficacy of COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms. Seo Jung-jin, Chairman of Celltrion, pointed out in an MBC radio interview that “if you look at the result so far, all viruses in the body are killed in 4 to 5 days”.

Shown High Efficacy in Neutralizing Viruses

CT-P59 is an antibody candidate that has demonstrated high efficacy in neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including the mutated G-variant strain (D614G variant). The medication in preclinical data exhibits a 100-fold reduction in viral load of SARS-CoV-2 and lung inflammation.

The Phase 1 clinical trial investigated the antiviral and safety effects of CT-P59. Enrolling 18 patients with mild symptoms of COVID-19, every 5 patients were respectively given 20mg/kg, 40mg/kg, or 80mg/kg of CT-P59, and the last 3 patients received a placebo.

Results demonstrated that the mean clinical recovery time in patients with CT-P59 has decreased by 44% compared to the placebo group, which means the recovery time is 44% faster. Also, patients in the trials did not require hospitalization or antiviral therapy, and no serious adverse events were identified.

Future Development

Currently, CT-P59 is under Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials, treating mild and moderate COVID-19 patients, and has been scheduled to verify details of mass production of the antibody treatment in September.

On Nov. 11, Chairman Seo, in an MBC radio interview, pointed out that Celltrion will “apply for conditional approval in December” if the Phase 2 clinical trial is finished in 2020 and shows “no problem in efficacy and safety.”

He said, “if you look at the result so far, all viruses in the body are killed in 4 to 5 days.” and Celltrion has manufactured the treatment for 100,000 COVID-19 patients.

By Tyler Chen

Related Article: Nanoparticle COVID-19 Vaccine Elicits Potent Neutralizing Antibodies

References

1. https://www.celltrionhealthcare.com/en-us/board/newsdetail?modify_key=409&pagenumber=1&keyword=&keyword_type=

Author

Tyler Chen

"Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died."- Erma Bombeck