Competitors Join Forces in Search for COVID-19 Treatment

A partnership to expedite the identification of effective antibodies for a therapeutic to treat COVID-19 patients has been established by Fairjourney Biologics (Portugal) and Iontas (UK).

The collaboration, between parties that would normally compete in similar markets, will take advantage of FairJourney’s deep expertise in Phage Display antibody libraries from immune repertoires and Iontas’ premium, next-generation Mammalian Display technology. RNA from recovering patients, provided by Portugal’s Instituto de Medicina Molecular, will be a key source of antibody genes used for the identification of target antibodies.

This combination will enable the newly created partnership to isolate highly specific, neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 antibodies displaying high affinity and preferential biophysical characteristics. The technology package will facilitate the identification of the right antibody without the need for additional optimization, thereby reducing the risk of delays during development and subsequent scale up to manufacturing.

“Given the current pandemic, and our expertise in exploring the 1,400+ immune libraries built at FairJourney, we felt compelled to engage in an antibody-based intervention for COVID-19. In this challenging environment we are proud to come together with John and his team to combine our individual strengths for a common goal,” said FairJourney Chief Scientific Officer, Maria Pajuelo.

John McCafferty, Chief Executive Officer of Iontas added: “We are delighted to have formed this partnership with FairJourney. Collectively, we felt it important to apply the best platforms in identifying treatments against COVID-19. We believe by using a broad repertoire of antibody libraries and mammalian display, we can find therapeutic candidates that will progress through manufacturing and ultimately into patients in a speedy timeframe.”