Benefits

  • Binds to protein N on the surface of infected cells
  • It activates the complement pathway
  • Potentially promotes the generation of immune memory
  • Recognizes samples from patients infected with RSV A and B strains
  • Potentially requires a single administration

Description

Infection caused by human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is considered the most important etiologic agent of acute infections of the lower respiratory tract in infants, children and older adults worldwide, with health services collapsing every winter. The WHO has estimated that more than 30 million cases that have HIV are reported annually, of which 3.4 million were hospitalized with a mortality of 200,000 infants or children.

Despite being a serious national and global public health problem, there is no vaccine or drugs to prevent this infection, protecting the global population. Therefore, together with the support of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and the Fundación Copec UC, we are developing a monoclonal antibody capable of protecting against infection caused by RSV, this new therapy targets Nucleoprotein (N) of RSV, taking as mechanism of action the development of immune memory.

Market

The world market includes the population susceptible to suffering from medium and/or severe severity due to RSV infections. This population consists in premature babies (under 36 weeks of gestation) and infants between 0-6 months of life. Also includes among those susceptible to older adults (over 65 years) and immunocompromised patients.

The vaccine could eradicate the disease, allowing the country to decongest the public health system in winter

Development State

The current state of technology is a laboratory-scale prototype, which already has a patent application

Applications

  • Therapy against RSV infection
  • HRV detection by Flow cytometry, ELISA and immunofluorescence in clinical samples
  • Use of Mab for research laboratory techniques such as Western blot, ELISA, Dot Blot, Immunofluorescence, Flow Cytometry

Opportunity

The monoclonal antibody therapy market was valued at US $ 174.2 billion by 2026 with a CAGR of 6.9% (according to Coherent Market Insights). This is due to the great therapeutic advantages of these medications over existing ones. The FDA and EMA have approved more than 78 monoclonal antibody therapies (according to Biopharma.com).

For therapies against RSV, a market growth of 29.9% is estimated for 2024, going from US $ 640 million to US $ 2.3 billion (according to Data Global).

We believe that Copec-UC Foundation, together with the PUC and its researchers, are the spearhead for the development of a new therapy against RSV, allowing the country to decongest the public health system in winter, decrease public spending and end with the inequality in the prophylaxis of the RSV, which, due to its high cost, is only guaranteed for a small group of the population.

Awards

Our anti-N monoclonal antibody was highlighted by the PATH website which stands for Program for Appropriate Technology in Health, an international health initiative under the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that selects research that will impact global health. This antibody has differentiating advantages such as the use of a new target (RSVN protein N), allowing the development of immune memory and potentially a single dose would be applied.