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The treatment has the ability of being administered by inhalation and acts in a highly targeted manner through the lungs to fight the infection at its source.
This treatments aims to be complementary to vaccination and could be added to the tools used by health professionals, particularly to fight the virus of patients infected with COVID-19 and those at high risk of complications.
The inhalation treatment developed by Immune Biosolutions allows antibodies to pass through the respiratory tract and directly access the lungs to act as a viral extinguisher. The simplicity of the inhalation delivery method adds to the attributes of this innovation.
To develop this treatment, the Sherbrooke-based biotechnology company identified antibodies from two human patients infected with COVID-19. The two patients ultimately recovered from the virus.
The Phase I clinical trial, which is being conducted in South Africa, is a randomized, double blind, placebo controlled, single site study designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of IBIO123 in symptomatic COVID-19 patients. Recruitment of volunteers is ongoing.
The primary objective is to define the effects of IBIO123 in terms of its safety and tolerability compared to a placebo. The secondary objectives are to determine the effects of IBIO123 on the viral load and clearance of SARS-CoV-2 virus as well as on the general clinical status of participants and on symptom improvement, again compared to the placebo.
This discovery is the result of a close collaboration between several private and public Canadian organizations which stemmed from over more than a year. In the spring of 2021, Immune Biosolutions was awarded $13.4 million in funding from the Government of Canada's Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to develop and validate its promising immunotherapy treatment.
"We believe that IBIO123 is a potentially ideal candidate to treat symptomatic patients in the acute phase and possibly prevent long-term complications from the infection. We are excited to eventually allow the population as a whole to benefit from it," said Luc Paquet, Chief Corporate Development Officer of Immune Biosolutions. ■