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Tonix Pharmaceuticals Announces Exclusive License of Potential Therapeutic or Preventative Humanized anti-SARS-CoV-2 Monoclonal Antibodies from Curia Global, Inc.
Immunocompromised Individuals, Including Organ Transplant Recipients, are at Increased Risk of Severe COVID-19 and Poor Clinical Outcomes SARS-CoV-2 has
About this update from Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp.
[{"type":"text","content":"Immunocompromised Individuals, Including Organ Transplant Recipients, are at Increased Risk of Severe COVID-19 and Poor Clinical Outcomes SARS-CoV-2 has Mutated to Evade the Existing EUA-Approved Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibody Therapies CHATHAM, N.J., Dec. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: TNXP), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has obtained an exclusive license from Curia Global, Inc., a leading contract research, development and manufacturing organization, for the development of three humanized murine monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for the treatment or prophylaxis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. SARS-CoV-2 is the cause of COVID-19. “We believe that the licensing of these mAbs strengthens our pipeline of next-generation therapeutics to treat COVID-19,” said Seth Lederman, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Tonix Pharmaceuticals. “Immunocompromised individuals, including organ transplant recipients, are at increased risk of severe COVID-19 and poor clinical outcomes1. Although five monoclonal antibody products, containing seven distinct monoclonal antibodies, have received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for either treatment or prophylaxis of COVID-19, only a single product, Evusheld®, is still recommended for use as a prophylaxis by the National Institutes of Health COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel or FDA2,3. Moreover, concerns have been raised about the ongoing ability of Evusheld® to prophylax in the face of new variants4. We believe there is a need for second generation mAb treatments and prophylactics for COVID-195. To date, the EUA-approved products have been derived from the blood of COVID-convalescent patients or a humanized mouse6,7. The Company believes that humanized murine monoclonal antibodies discovered by Curia and licensed by Tonix represent a potential new approach to treating SARS-CoV-2 infection. The Company believes that murine monoclonal antibodies have the potential for neutralizing a broader spectrum of SARS-CoV-2 variants and may be harder for SARS-CoV-2 to evade as we face a ‘variant soup’ from both convergent and divergent evolution.”8 Brian Zabel, Ph.D., Senior Director at Curia said, “We are excited to work with Tonix because of their commitment to developing therapeutics to COVID-19....