Immunome (IMNM Get IMMUNOME, INC. Report shares jumped higher Tuesday after the biotech group said its antibody cocktail has shown "potent neutralizing activity" against both the Delta and Lambda coronavirus variants.
Immunome said its cocktail, which consists of three antibodies that bind to 'non-overlapping' regions of spike proteins in multiple strains of SARS-CoV-2, demonstrated the protection in pre-clinical trials that were partly-funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.
A recent report published on the bioRxiv server suggests the Lambda coronavirus variant could become the dominant strain in future surges, and noted that sera from the Pfizer (PFE Get Pfizer Inc. Report/BioNTech (BNTX Get BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR Report vaccine has shown weak reactivity to the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the Lambda variant.
“IMM-BCP-01 continues to demonstrate its broad neutralizing activity against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants in preclinical testing, most recently against the Lambda and Delta plus variants," said CEO Purnanand Sarma. "While the Delta lineage is the dominant strain in the U.S., the Lambda variant is rapidly spreading through South America, and is a designated variant of interest by World Health Organization. IMM-BCP-01 was designed to be resistant to SARS-CoV-2 variants, and we are delighted that our approach continues to be supported by our preclinical data.”
“These results give us further confidence that IMM-BCP-01 will be critical in the ongoing fight against SARS-CoV-2. IMM-BCP-01 has already been shown to neutralize all other current Centers for Disease Control (CDC) variants of concern in pre-clinical testing,” he added.
Immunome shares were marked 4.6% higher in pre-market trading Tuesday to indicate an opening bell price of $15.80 each, extending their year-to-date gain to around 63.2%.
