Immunome Shares Seesaw After COVID-19 Antibody Cocktail Works Against Live Omicron Virus

Immunome Inc IMNM shares rose before falling after reporting results from testing its experimental three-antibody cocktail against live versions of the COVID-19 omicron variant.

• CEO Purnanand Sarma said that there had been a significant reduction in the number of antibody therapeutics under emergency use authorization that are active against omicron in recent weeks. That trend, he said, demonstrates the "clear, immediate need" for the continued advancement of novel therapeutic approaches.
• Immunome's cocktail features an independent mechanism of anti-viral activity that offers a differentiated way to fight SARS-CoV-2 variants. 
• The Company believes its experimental therapy, dubbed IMM-BCP-01, is less susceptible to "variant drift." 
• Related: FDA Issues Clinical Hold On Immunome's COVID-19 Antibody Program.
• Immunome plans to continue advancing IMM-BCP-01 into a phase-1b trial based on the positive data.
• IMM20253 promotes a proteolytic cleavage of the portion of the spike protein needed for ACE2 binding, thus reducing the ability of the virus to infect host cells. 
• Immunome's IMM20253/IMM20184 combination neutralized the omicron variant within 3.5-fold potency compared to S309, the preclinical version of GlaxoSmithKline Plc's GSK / Vir Biotechnology Inc's VIR sotrovimab.
• Price Action: IMNM shares are down 5.68% at $7.97 during the market session on the last check Tuesday.