SAB Biotherapeutics doses first patient in next phase of trial for influenza treatment
July 6, 2021
SAB Biotherapeutics is moving ahead with clinical trials for its influenza treatment.
The Sioux Falls biotech company announced the first patient has been dosed in its phase 2a clinical trial evaluating how safe and effective its novel anti-influenza therapeutic SAB-176 is. It’s designed to address the limitations of current treatments for moderate to severe seasonal influenza, the company said in a statement, calling it a high-potency multivalent human polyclonal antibody therapeutic designed specifically to treat or prevent type A and type B seasonal and pandemic influenza virus infections.
“With the devastating health and economic impacts of seasonal influenza and hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and deaths annually, more effective therapies for moderate to severe cases are needed,” co-founder, president and CEO Eddie Sullivan said.
“We are excited to be advancing SAB-176, a novel high-potency immunotherapy with the unique ability to simultaneously target type A and B influenza, including emerging and mutating strains.”
SAB-176 has the potential to complement seasonal vaccine programs, to achieve better efficacy than small molecule anti-influenza antivirals in the general population and to serve as a valuable prophylactic in high-risk populations, he added.
“We look forward to progressing this promising therapy, which harnesses the unique attributes of our fully human polyclonal antibody platform, to address highly mutating viruses that have significant annual health impacts as well as pandemic potential.”
SAB said it expects to report data from the study in the fourth quarter of this year.
