An Indian company is currently testing a promising breakthrough treatment for Covid-19. The first phase of human trials is expected to conclude this month.
iSera Biological, based in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India, is testing a Covid-19 treatment drug. If successful, this will be the first Covid-19 treatment in India for patients exhibiting mild to moderate symptoms, according to the Indian Express.
The Covid-19 treatment drug produces the antibody Imdevimab. (Illustrative image).
In early trials, this drug helped Covid-19 patients test negative on RT-PCR tests within 72-90 hours, the company representative stated. The treatment is currently undergoing phase 1 trials on humans and is expected to complete this month.
iSera Biological is a four-year-old company specializing in the production of antivenom for snake bites, rabies, and diphtheria. The company claims that the Covid-19 treatment will prevent SARS-CoV-2 from spreading within the patient’s body and neutralize existing viral loads.
“This is a promising drug. If the trials are successful, it will be very suitable for a country like India, being accessible at a reasonable cost compared to existing foreign products,” said Professor N K Ganguly, former director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research.
This drug is administered via injection and contains specialized antibodies to prevent Covid-19. iSera Biological chose horses as the source for developing antibodies due to their ability to produce significant amounts of antibodies.
“The process is similar to that of a vaccine injection. Horses are injected with a specific antigen so that their bodies can develop antibodies. These antibodies are akin to those produced by the human body to fight against Covid-19. The antibodies are harvested from the horses and then undergo a high-quality purification process, ensuring that the final product contains at least 95% pure antibodies,” said Nandkumar Kadam, director of iSera Biological.
Administering specific antibodies for Covid-19 to infected patients is an approach that has been tested in various ways previously.
Mr. Kadam mentioned that a single dose of specific antibody injection costs around a few thousand rupees (1,000 rupees is approximately 300,000 VND), which is cheaper than similar foreign products.
The company plans to conduct phase 2 and 3 clinical trials in September and October, hoping to have the product ready for market by the end of this year.
