Aridis Pharma's COVID-19 Antibody Neutralizes Delta Variant In Animal Model

Aridis Pharmaceuticals Inc ARDS has announced that its COVID-19 mAb cocktail AR-712 binds and neutralizes the Delta variant of COVID-19 at a highly effective level (~20ng/mL).
Binding analyses project that AR-712 will be effective against all variants on the U.S. CDC's variants of interest and concern lists.
The dual antibody cocktail will be delivered as an inhaled treatment and is expected to provide broad coverage of all known high-risk variants.
In addition, Aridis announced preclinical development services support from NIAID (NIH) after demonstrating a robust therapeutic efficacy of inhaled delivery in a SARS-CoV-2 hamster challenge model.
This achieved reversal of disease in infected animals at an inhaled dose of 1mg/kg, equivalent to a 10mg dose in humans from a nebulizer. For reference purposes, the dose of commercially available COVID antibody therapies is currently in the range of 500mg to 1,200mg.
AR-712 is being developed as a self-administered, at-home inhaled treatment for COVID-19 patients who are not yet hospitalized.
The Company remains on track to finalize the Phase 1/2/3 design for this program and initiate the clinical study in 2H 2021.
AR-712 is a cocktail of two fully human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) mAbs discovered from screening the antibody-secreting B-cells of convalescent COVID-19 infected patients.
Price Action: ARDS shares are down 4.3% at $6.99 during the premarket session on the last check Tuesday.