China Has Begun the Monoclonal Neutralising Antibody Phase 1 Clinical Trial against COVID-19

China has begun the recombinant fully human monoclonal neutralising antibody (JS016) phase 1 clinical trial against COVID-19 in Shanghai on 7 June 2020 after non-human primates testing and approved by the National Medical Products Administration. Being the world’s first clinical trial for the antibody among people without a COVID-19 diagnosis, the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial aims to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and immunogenicity of JS016 among the Chinese. JS016 reduces viral infectivity and inhibits viral replication by blocking the binding of SARS-CoV-2 to ACE2 host cell surface receptor, and is believed to be a more rapid approach against the novel coronavirus than passive plasma therapy which shows temporal variation in efficacy.

Keywords:
COVID-19, treatment, neutralising antibody, clinical trial, safety, pharmacokinetics

References

National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China. COVID-19 neutralizing antibody in phase-1 clinical trial in Shanghai. 8 Jun 2020. http://en.nhc.gov.cn/2020-06/08/c_80676.htm

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