KVAL: Novel biologics tailored for treatment of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has a huge impact on health and economy, and although vaccines have been developed rapidly, there are few therapies available that can be used to treat those who do not respond well to the vaccines. As such, there is an urgent global need for treatment options with a range of complementary approaches, specifically tailored to elderly and immunocompromised patients. Therefore, there is a need for biological drugs that have long-term benefits, and which can be used to slow down the spread of the virus, and providing effective treatment for those who have got ill or it can be given as preventive treatment. Preferably, the designed biological drugs should be tailored so that they can fight the virus where it attacks. In this project, we have developed a new class of biological drugs that block infection using a unique technology platform, patented by us. The project has led to a drug candidate that binds SARS-CoV-2, and blocks the virus' ability to infect cells, and importantly, for all the most relevant virus variants. Through the project, a dialogue has been conducted with a key industrial player about further development, and where the company has shared information and performed some experiments on the candidate. There is now a willingness to follow the project further, where the goal is a license agreement, which has not yet been fulfilled. The work will be published shortly, and we will use every opportunity to promote commercialization. This is interesting regardless of SARS-CoV-2, as we have experienced that the candidate can also be used in the treatment of other indications.

Vi har eksemplifisert en ny teknologi, som vi har utviklet og patentert, og det i kontekst av en potensiell ny legemiddelkandidat. Proof-of-concept er etablert in vitro og in vivo i humaniserte mus med sterke pre-kliniske data. Dataene motiverer for et videre kommersialiseringsløp. Det er innledet dialog med en internasjonal industriell aktør som viser stor interesse, og som også har bidratt med enkelte forsøk utenfor denne prosjektbeskrivelsen. Dette har ennå ikke ført frem til en lisensavtale. Vi har også erfart av vår kandidat kan ha et bruksområde langt utover COVID19. Prosjektet har gitt oss et enestående eksempel på bruk av den unike teknologien, noe som vil være av stor viktighet for andre innovasjonsprosjekter.