Avacta Group finds ‘significant potential’ for Covid-19 therapy
The biotherapeutics company said it has discovered several neutralising Affimers which were shown to block the interaction of the virus with ACE2, a key human cell surface receptor.
The discovery was made during development work for point-of-care COVID-19 antigen saliva test which the group has been working on for weeks as part of its collaboration with Cytiva.
The two are working together to develop a rapid point-of-care COVID-19 antigen saliva test to be mass produced for large-scale population screening and for self-testing by consumers.
To date, Avacta has already successfully generated a large number of Affimer reagents that bind to the SARS-COV-2 virus' spike protein, this morning’s statement detailed.
The group has now found several of these Affimer reagents to block the interaction between the virus' spike protein and ACE2, which the virus spike protein binds in order to infect cells.
Shares in Avacta Group were trading 20.19% higher at 128p on Friday morning.
The group said that Affimer reagents block the binding of the virus spike protein to ACE2 therefore have the potential to prevent infection and act as "neutralising" therapies.
In theory, these therapies could be given to those exposed to the virus to prevent infection as well as in patients already infected by the virus to help treat and prevent disease progression.
“There is significant potential for a therapy that could help prevent infection and limit the progression of the disease, providing immediate benefit to patients,” said Dr Alastair Smith, Chief Executive of Avacta.
As a result, the company said it is now seeking a partner that has the resources available to develop a neutralising Affimer therapy as quickly as possible.
The group noted the efforts of pharmaceutical firms such as AstraZeneca and GSK which are funding programmes to develop neutralising antibodies that block the spike/ACE2 interaction.
“With a large and well-resourced partner, a neutralising Affimer therapy could potentially be developed more quickly than a vaccine and we believe that the likelihood of success would be high,” added Smith.
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Avacta Group is also included in the Vox Covid-19 Crusaders index.
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