Lilly and AbCellera Partner to Develop Therapeutic and Preventive Antibodies from Convalescent COVID-19 Patient Blood

March 14, 2020/BioonBIOON/--Eli Lilly and AbCellera Biologics Inc. recently announced a joint agreement to co-develop antibody products for the treatment and prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. This collaboration will leverage AbCellera’s Pandemic Rapid Response Platform, developed under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Pandemic Prevention Platform (P3) program, andEli LillyGlobal capabilities for the rapid development, manufacturing, and distribution of therapeutic antibodies.

InWithin One Week of Receiving the First Batch of Blood Samples from COVID-19-Recovered Patients in the United States, AbCellera screenedMore than 5 million immune cells, to identify cells capable of producing functional antibodies (antibodies that help patients neutralize the virus and recover from the disease). Through this effort, AbCelleraMore than 500 unique fully human antibody sequences have been identified, this is the reported to dateThe Largest Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibody PanelThe next step is to screen these antibodies to identify those most effective at neutralizing SARS-CoV-2. Many of these antibodies will be expressed in collaboration with partners at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Following an agreement with NIAID, these antibodies will be tested for their ability to neutralize the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

Under the terms of the agreement, AbCellera and Eli Lilly have committed to sharing equally the initial development costs of the product, after which Eli Lilly will be responsible for all further development, manufacturing, and distribution. If successful,Eli LillyPrepared to collaborate with global regulatory authorities to provide treatments for patients.

AbCellera is a private company dedicated to the collaborative discovery and development of next-generation therapeutic antibodies. AbCellera’s single-cell platform integrates end-to-end capabilities for therapeutic antibody discovery through a unique combination of technologies, including proprietary immunization, microfluidics, high-throughput imaging,Genomics, deep computing, artificial intelligence, and laboratory automation. Ultra-deep screening of individual B cells enables the capture of unprecedented natural immune responses, thereby facilitating the rapid isolation of large, diverse, and high-quality lead antibodies from any species, including humans.

Natural immune responses can generate billions of potential antibodies, making them the optimal source for discovering novel antibody therapies.Leveraging a drug discovery platform capable of searching and automatically analyzing the immune system to deliver best-in-class antibodies, AbCellera has recently been featured in Fast Company’s"Top 50 Most Innovative Companies Worldwide in 2020"Annual List.

Dr. Carl Hansen, CEO of AbCellera, stated: “AbCellera’s platform has delivered the largest panel of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies globally to date, at an unprecedented speed. Within 11 days, we identified hundreds of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, collaborated with global virology experts for functional testing, and simultaneously entered into a co-development agreement with one of the world’s leading biopharmaceutical companies. We areEli Lilly“The company’s speed and agility in responding to global challenges are impressive. Our teams are jointly committed to delivering countermeasures that halt outbreaks.”

Daniel Skovronsky, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Eli Lilly and President of Eli Lilly Research Laboratories, stated: “As the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases surges worldwide, physicians and patients are seeking a therapeutic intervention to accelerate patient recovery or prevent the disease.”Eli Lilly“Committed to playing our part in the global pandemic, we are bringing innovation to patients. We partnered with AbCellera because we were impressed by the speed and quality of their work. We are developing a potential therapy to help patients as quickly as possible. While a new therapeutic antibody project typically takes years to reach clinical trials, our goal with AbCellera is to test potential new therapies in patients within the next four months.”(Bioon.com)

Original Source:AbCellera and Lilly to Co-develop Antibody Therapies for the Treatment of COVID-19