ASPR expands collaboration with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to address novel coronavirus

An existing relationship between the U.S. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will be extended under a new arrangement to develop a treatment for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

“Emerging infectious diseases can present serious threats to our nation’s health security,” Dr. Rick Bright, deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and response and director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) at ASPR, said. “Working as public-private partners like we have with Regeneron since 2014, we can move rapidly to respond to new global health threats.”

The focus of the public-private partnership will now be on the development of multiple monoclonal antibodies that could potentially be used to treat 2019-nCoV. Such antibodies are produced by either a single clone of cells or a cell line with identical antibody molecules. These bind to certain virus proteins and, in so doing, reduce their ability to infect human cells. Such efforts will be undertaken on Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody discovery platform known as VelocImmune.

It’s a part of the company’s larger VelociSuite technology, which has developed several investigational therapeutics for Ebola and MERS — the latter of the same family as 2019-nCoV. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) credits the technology with shortening the product development timeline on treatments for both viruses from years to months.