Memo Therapeutics discovers neutralising antibodies against Covid-19

Switzerland-based Memo Therapeutics has discovered multiple SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies with the potential for development as immunotherapy against Covid-19.

Since March, the company has selected certain donors from Covid-19 patients in the country. The selection criteria was for patients who had a clinical course of the disease indicative of a potent antibody response.

Memo Therapeutics collected blood samples from the selected donors and used its microfluidic DROPZYLLA discovery platform to find virus-neutralising antibodies.

The platform is designed to allow the production of complete recombinant human antibody repertoires. It is said to preserve all characteristics present in each patient’s B cells.

Memo Therapeutics CEO Dr Karsten Fischer said: “The identification of SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing antibodies could be a game-changer in how we tackle the global Covid-19 pandemic.

“The discovery process and ongoing clinical development may also provide key insights into how we can combat new mutants and viral outbreaks in the future, as well as other existing viral diseases.”

The company processed more than two million memory B-cells from Covid-19 donors and identified ultra-rare antibodies with promising virus-neutralising activity.

Among these antibodies, the most potent will advance into clinical development as passive immunotherapy for Covid-19. A clinical proof-of-concept could be conducted in the fourth quarter of this year.

Memo Therapeutics CSO Dr Christoph Esslinger said: “We are also extremely pleased to see that our DROPZYLLA antibody discovery platform and the established workflow appear to be perfectly suited for a rapid pandemic response, and we believe that patient-derived antibodies are the most straightforward, safe and reliable therapeutic option for such a situation.”

The company is currently working on infectious diseases and immuno-oncology programmes.