- The stock price of ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd. (NASDAQ: IPA) increased by over 30% pre-market. This is why it happened.
The stock price of ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd. (NASDAQ: IPA) increased by over 30% pre-market. Investors are responding positively to IMMUNOPRECISE ANTIBODIES LTD. announcing the new results from its TATX-03 PolyTope Therapy, a 4 monoclonal antibody cocktail developed for the potential prevention and treatment of SARS-CoV-2, demonstrating potent pseudovirus neutralizing activity against the SARS-CoV-2 Delta (B.1.617.2) variant.
The company had anticipated viral evolution leading to novel SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern throughout the design of their PolyTope SARS-CoV-2 therapeutic cocktail, aiming to minimize the risk of mutagenic escape (a reduction or elimination in the efficacy of a therapy or vaccine by virus mutation). And as such, the company continuously validates, and has demonstrated to date, maintained neutralization potency of IPA’s multi-antibody cocktail towards SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. Plus IPA previously announced that TATX-03 demonstrated strong efficacy in reducing viral load in vivo using a hamster challenge model and potently neutralized pseudovirus of Alpha (B.1.1.7) and Beta (B.1.351) variants in vitro.
The additional evaluation of virus neutralization potency in an in vitro pseudovirus-based assay revealed that IPA’s TATX-03 anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody cocktail is also not affected by the rapidly spreading Delta variant (B.1.617.2). And parallel reactivity screening of the individual antibodies of TATX-03 revealed differential susceptibility of the lead components towards the Delta (B.1.617.1) variant with the majority showing maintained binding.
These results are consistent with previously announced binding data towards other SARS-CoV-2 mutants, including the variants of concern like Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), and Gamma (P.1) variants. And these binding data — combined with the maintained neutralization potency of IPA’s TATX-03 to variants of concern — supports the company’s expectation that rationally designed multi-membered antibody cocktails are more sustainable (e.g. will be functionally less prone to escape-by-one mutations).
KEY QUOTE:
“The data from IPA’s screenings on the variants of concern speak to the importance of targeting diversified epitopes on the spike trimer for treatment sustainability and resilience of our PolyTope cocktail. Our TATX-03 cocktail is rationally designed for broad epitope coverage relying on multiple antibodies, which have shown in pre-clinical studies to work synergistically together, to reduce the risk of mutagenic escape, and have the potential to reduce the risk of new variants. We believe this strategy of multi-antibody cocktails is more crucial now with the surge of new variants of concern and breakthrough cases.”
— Dr. Ilse Roodink, IPA’s Chief Scientific Officer and Global Program Director for COVID Research
Disclaimer: This content is intended for informational purposes. Before making any investment, you should do your own analysis.
