Cows come home for CSL in COVID-19 vaccine battle
It sounds like a pitch for a sci-fi thriller — using genetically modified cows to fight coronavirus.
It sounds like a pitch for a sci-fi thriller — using genetically modified cows to fight coronavirus.
But that is exactly what Australia’s biggest health company, CSL, is doing under a new partnership with US biotech SAB Biotherapeutics.
CSL, via its subsidiary CSL Behring, is investing in SAB’s development of a “high-targeted” immunotherapy to treat COVID-19 infected patients without the need for human plasma donations.
The treatment involves using genetically engineered cattle to produce human antibodies to combat the virus, which has killed more than 82,000 people and infected more than 1.43 million others.
The SAB partnership comes two days after CSL joined forces with Takeda to accelerate the development of another potentially life-saving treatment.
The Takeda alliance involved extracting antibodies from the plasma of people who have recovered from COVID-19 to create a hyperimmune immunoglobulin medicine to help coronavirus-infected patients with serious complications fight the virus.
CSL Behring executive vice-president and head of research and development Bill Mezzanotte said the SAB approach involved the same natural immune response to fight the disease as in recovered patients, but with a much higher concentration of targeted antibodies.
“COVID-19 is a nearly unprecedented public health crisis,” Mr Mezzanotte said.
“That’s why we’re combining our leading capabilities in plasma product development and immunology with external collaborators to help find multiple, rapid solutions.
“SAB Biotherapeutics’ novel immunotherapy platform provides a new and innovative solution to rapidly respond without the need for human plasma adding a different dimension. For future pandemics, SAB’s platform may allow us to even more rapidly respond to patients’ needs.”
CSL Behring has provided seed funding of an undisclosed sum to help offset initial development costs funded by SAB. The US company has already secured about $US7.2m ($11.74m) from the US government through an interagency agreement.
This will help SAB complete manufacturing and preclinical studies. CSL Behring will then commit its clinical, regulatory, manufacturing and supply chain expertise and resources to deliver the therapy to the market as soon as possible.
SAB chief executive and president Eddie J. Sullivan said the partnership with CSL would accelerate the treatment.
“Our partnership with CSL Behring shifts our development trajectory to more rapidly scale-up and deliver our highly targeted and potent COVID-19 therapeutic candidate, and deploy our unique capabilities to help combat this crisis,” Mr Sullivan said.
“We have a successful preclinical track record for addressing infectious disease targets including Ebola, MERS, and SARS with our proprietary platform and appreciate that this collaboration with a global biopharmaceutical powerhouse will magnify the potential impact of a COVID-19 immunotherapy and provide an important framework for … the future.”
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