Bengaluru : Biocon Biologics Ltd., a fully integrated biosimilars company and a subsidiary of Biocon Ltd. announced today that U.S. based Adagio Therapeutics has granted an exclusive license to Biocon Biologics to manufacture and commercialize an antibody treatment based on ADG20 for India and select emerging markets.
ADG20, a novel monoclonal antibody targeting the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and related coronaviruses, is in global clinical development by Adagio as a single agent for both the treatment and prevention of COVID-19. Initial data indicate that ADG20, Adagio’s lead clinical development candidate, could provide both rapid and durable protection against COVID-19 for up to one year. This could make it an ideal agent to prevent infections and significantly reduce COVID-19 related hospitalizations and death.
With its potential to address resistant variants, including the Delta variant, and its ability to be administered easily as a single, intramuscular injection in the outpatient setting, ADG20 is uniquely poised to address the current need for an effective, safe and convenient therapy for COVID-19.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson Biocon Biologics Ltd, said: “We are very proud to partner with Adagio in our shared mission to provide affordable access to a best-in-class antibody therapy for people affected by SARS-CoV-2. This partnership with Adagio aligns our joint vision of bringing superior biologic therapies to millions of patients in low and middle income countries. Vaccines alone will not protect and make the world safer. Biologic therapies that arrest the virus in its path of devastation are a necessity for sustainable protection and safety.”
Adagio’s Antibody Therapy
ADG20 is differentiated from other antibody treatments targeting SARS-CoV-2 as it is able to effectively neutralize a broad range of sarbecoviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 and its emerging variants, with high potency. Preclinical data generated by Adagio and validated by the University of Oxford in a series of recent Cell manuscripts, show that ADG20 uniquely combines potency, breadth and complete neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 and all currently known variants of concern. Adagio has also published in vitro and in vivo data in Science on ADG2 (the precursor to ADG20), which demonstrated similar or higher potency against SARS-CoV-2 compared to other monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in clinical development, while retaining broad neutralization potency across the sarbecovirus family.
