Shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals rose to a new 52-week high price after the company reported it has identified hundreds of virus-neutralizing antibodies and plans to initiate large-scale manufacturing by mid-April of a multi-antibody therapy to treat coronavirus.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN:NASDAQ) today announced "the latest progress in its efforts to discover and develop a novel multi-antibody cocktail that can be administered as prophylaxis before exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus or as treatment for those already infected."
The company reported that its scientists have isolated hundreds of virus-neutralizing, fully human antibodies from the firms genetically-modified VelocImmune® mice which have immune systems similar to humans. In addition, the firm advised that it has isolated antibodies from humans who have recovered from COVID-19 to aid in maximizing the pool of potential antibodies. The company indicated that it will select the top two candidate antibodies for a cocktail-like treatment based on potency and binding properties to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein as well as other specified characteristics.
The firm indicated that it will employ its VelociMab® technology to prepare manufacturing-ready cell lines as soon as lead antibodies are identified in order to rapidly ramp up clinical-scale production. The company expects that it will be able to manufacture hundreds of thousands of prophylactic doses per month by the end of summer.
The company's Co-founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., commented, "Our three decades of investment in our VelociSuite antibody technologies, which accelerate and improve the traditional drug discovery process, have hopefully prepared us for this critical time and to meet this important challenge...Given the tremendous interest and concern around the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be providing regular and transparent updates on our discovery and development programs."
The company noted that "all coronaviruses have a single glycoprotein on the virus surface called the spike protein, which is the protein on the virus cell surface that binds to the host cell and is required for infectivity and its SARS-CoV-2 antibodies will target the spike protein in order to block its interaction with the host cell, and thus neutralize the virus."
Christos Kyratsous, Ph.D., vice president of research, infectious diseases and viral vector technologies at Regeneron, added, "I'm so proud to be part of this cross-company team, which delivered a novel and effective fully human antibody treatment for Ebola in record time and is making every effort to once again rise to this unprecedented challenge."
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals describes itself as a leading biotechnology company that invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases. The company has seven FDA-approved homegrown treatments and numerous product candidates in development. The firm states that its medicines and pipeline are designed to help patients with eye disease, allergic and inflammatory diseases, cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, infectious diseases, pain and rare diseases.
Regeneron has a market capitalization of around $48.5 billion with approximately 110 million shares outstanding. REGN shares opened higher today at $452.51 (+$11.68, +2.65%) over yesterday's $440.83 closing price and reached a new 52-week high price this morning of $512.98. The stock has traded today between $473.00 and $512.98 per share and is currently trading at $491.32 (+$50.49, +11.45%).
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