Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
ARDS
announced that its investigational dual antibody, COVID-19 mAb cocktail therapy, AR-712, effectively binds and neutralizes the Delta variant of the virus. The candidate is being developed as a self-administered, at-home inhaled treatment for COVID-19 patients who are not yet hospitalized.
Per the company, a binding analysis proposes that AR-712 will be effective against all
Variants of Interest
and
Variants of Concern
as outlined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Shares of Aridis Pharmaceuticals were up 5.2% in after-hours trading on Monday following announcement of the news. In fact, the stock has rallied 20.2% so far this year against the
industry
’s decrease of 1.7%.
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Per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Delta variant has become the most dominant strain in the United States, accounting for the majority of new COVID-19 cases in the country. The World Health Organization has warned that Delta will become the globally dominant variant of the coronavirus in the coming months.
Notably, the inhaled dual antibody cocktail, AR-712, is expected to provide broad coverage of all known high-risk variants. In preclinical studies supported by NIAID, AR-712 has demonstrated strong therapeutic efficacy of inhaled delivery in a SARS-CoV-2 hamster challenge model.
Aridis Pharmaceuticals expects to begin clinical studies on AR-712 in the second half of 2021. The company is presently focused on finalizing the design of a phase I/II/III study on the candidate.
AR-712, which is being developed to treat non-hospitalized mild to moderate COVID-19 patients by inhalation, is expected to substantially lower the barrier in treating COVID-19 patients and encourage treatment much earlier at their own homes.
AR-712 is a cocktail of two fully human IgG1 mAbs – AR-711 and AR-713 – that are directed against the receptor-binding domain of the COVID-19 virus.
We remind investors that the FDA has granted an Emergency Use Authorization (“EUA”) to
Regeneron
’s
REGN
antibody cocktail, REGEN-COV (casirivimab and imdevimab), for treating mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients (12 years of age and older weighing ≥40 kg) and those who are at high risk of progressing to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death.
The agency has also issued an EUA to
Eli Lilly
’s
LLY
antibody cocktail, bamlanivimab plus etesevimab, which can be administered together for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients. The FDA has also granted an EUA to
Vir Biotechnology
VIR
and GlaxoSmithKline’s monoclonal antibody, sotrovimab, for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients.
Zacks Rank
Aridis Pharmaceuticals currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here
.
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