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The DXP-604 experimental treatment is based on a single neutralising antibody identified from the plasma of 60 recovering Covid-19 patients. Photo: Shutterstock

New Chinese Covid-19 antibody treatment shows promise, as China races to find a cure

  • Experimental neutralising antibody treatment able to tackle all variants shown to reduce viral loads and symptoms for 14 Beijing patients
  • The therapy fights mutations with a single antibody, which will help cut production costs by one third, an official newspaper reported
An experimental Covid-19 antibody treatment authorised for compassionate use at a Beijing hospital has delivered promising results, state media reported.
This comes after Chinese authorities recently approved the compassionate use of DXP-604, a neutralising antibody treatment, for 14 Covid-19 patients at the Ditan Hospital in Beijing.

The therapy, administered by intravenous infusion, is based on an antibody identified by Sunney Xie Xiaoliang, director of the Beijing Advanced Innovation Centre for Genomics at Peking University, and his team.

Its use significantly reduced the viral load of the patients and relieved symptoms such as shortness of breath and loss of the senses of smell and taste, according to the official Science and Technology Daily. Some of the patients had already been discharged, it said.

Xie told a conference earlier this month that his team had identified a full spectrum antibody that could tackle all Covid-19 variants in laboratory tests. The antibody was isolated from the plasma of over 60 recovering patients.

While other treatments seek to combine two antibodies to prevent the escape of variants, DXP-604 can tackle mutations with a single antibody, and that will help cut production costs by one third, the Science and Technology Daily report said.

Xie said his team was also working on cutting the dosage by half, according to the report. This would also help to lower costs.

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Xie, co-winner of the 2015 Albany Medical Centre Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, is known for his research on single-cell genomics.
He is the co-founder of Singlomics Biopharmaceuticals, which signed a deal last year with Hong Kong-listed BeiGene to manufacture and commercialise the two antibodies identified by Xie’s team for the overseas market.

The other antibody, named DXP-593, turned out to be less effective against coronavirus variants.

02:10

Scientists in China claim a new drug could stop Covid-19 without a vaccine

Scientists in China claim a new drug could stop Covid-19 without a vaccine

While the trial size for the therapy remains small and no clinical data has been released yet, the Science and Technology Daily report said Singlomics had signed a letter of intent with China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) to conduct phase 2 and phase 3 trials overseas, while phase 2 trials were ongoing in China.

The experimental treatment is among a raft of projects China is working on to find a cure for Covid-19, as it is eager to ensure a low mortality rate before it can consider reopening its borders.

The country, which has a zero-tolerance strategy on the disease, has pumped 315 million yuan (US$49.3 million) into 53 research projects on developing Covid-19 drugs and therapies since the pandemic broke out almost two years ago, according to an earlier report by the same paper.

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Regulators are now on track to approve China’s first Covid-19 drug, possibly within weeks.

A monoclonal antibody treatment developed by Brii Biosciences, a US- and China-based pharmaceutical firm, with scientists at Tsinghua University and the Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, may get conditional approval by the year-end, the same paper reported on Monday.

The company earlier said it had submitted trial data to Chinese regulators and applied for emergency use authorisation in the United States.

The treatment combines two potent antibodies and is said to be effective against a number of variants, including Delta, the current dominant strain worldwide.

Antibody treatments are known for their high cost. Many scientists are also working on small-molecule medicines, hoping to ensure wider access to the drugs.

No Chinese candidate has stood out on this front yet. In the West, antiviral drugs developed by Merck and Pfizer have been shown to substantially cut hospitalisation and deaths, though more trials are needed to determine their safety and effectiveness.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: antibody treatment shows promise at Beijing hospital
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