Neutralizing antibodies are not yet accurate for the efficacy of Omi kerong The stock price of Tengshengbo Drugs fell sharply before it was sold

The accelerated spread of the Omikejong variant is driving global demand for anti-COVID-19 drugs. As the first approved COVID-19 neutralizing antibody drug in China, Chinese biopharmaceutical company Tengshengbo Pharmaceutical (2137. HK) coronavirus therapy is about to go on sale.

Since the emergency approval of the registration application for the neutralizing antibody combination therapy drugs amphewaxab injection (BRII-196) and romisvir monoclonal antibody injection (BRII-198) of Tengsheng Bo Pharmaceuticals on December 8 last year, the company's stock price has fallen from a maximum of HK$48 to less than HK$23 at present.

As of press time on Friday, tengsheng bo pharmaceutical stock price fell by more than 10% again, and the cumulative decline in the stock price for two consecutive days was more than 20%.

At present, Tengsheng Bo Pharmaceutical has not proved whether the company's neutralizing antibody combination therapy can effectively deal with the Ami kerong variant. The company said it was studying the drug's effectiveness on the Opmi kerong variant, but had not yet released the results.

Industry insiders generally believe that the Opichron variant has a strong ability to break through vaccine protection, which means that the new crown treatment drugs will become necessary. Professor Zhang Wenhong, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases of Huashan Hospital, published an article on January 14, saying: "We and the scientific research team are about to carry out clinical research preparations for a new class of oral anti-new coronavirus drugs developed and innovated by China itself. Vaccines and drugs will be the core scientific and technological support for us to survive the pandemic and return to normal life in the future. ”

The first financial reporter learned that tengsheng bo drug's new crown neutralizing antibody drug was developed in cooperation with the Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen and Tsinghua University. According to information disclosed by the State Food and Drug Administration of China, the above combination therapy is used to treat adult and adolescent (12-17 years, weight ≥40 kg) patients with mild and ordinary types with progression to severe high-risk factors, of which adolescent indications are conditionally approved.

Informed sources told the first financial reporter that at present, including Tengsheng Bo Drug, Junshi Biological, Danxu Biology, including a number of new crown neutralizing antibodies, as well as the effectiveness of new coronavirus small molecule antiviral drugs against the new crown variant strains are underway, of which the neutralizing antibody has been used in some elderly patients with severe disease trends, whether there is a curative effect can be judged within one or two days.

A researcher involved in the research and development of the new crown neutralizing antibody drug told the first financial reporter: "At present, the data disclosed by enterprises including Tengsheng Bo Pharmaceutical are the test results carried out before the emergence of the Omicron variant. Our study found that the Omiljung variant strain has produced a new mutant subspecies R346K, which is replacing the Omiljun strain at a rate of 1%-2% per day, and currently accounts for 25% of the total number of infected Omikejong strains, accounting for up to 50% in countries such as Thailand. ”

The above researchers believe that vaccines and drugs will be needed to intervene in the new crown in the future, and broad-spectrum drugs and small molecule drugs may become the best strategy for responding to the epidemic.

Chinese research teams are actively developing oral COVID-19 antiviral drugs. At present, manufacturers including Simcere Pharmaceutical, Junshi Bio and Pioneering Pharmaceutical are conducting relevant research.

On January 14, Hong Kong-listed Everest Medicines also ramped up its covid-19 oral therapy offering, announcing that it had received an exclusive global license from a group of 3CL protease inhibitors developed by the Singapore Centre for Experimental Drug Discovery (EDDC) to treat COVID-19 pneumonia. The Company expects to initiate clinical trials of the related drug candidate EDDC-2214 in the second half of 2022.

Globally, on 13 January, the World Health Organization (WHO) updated a recommendation to use two drugs, Eli Lilly and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)-Vir Biotechnology, for COVID-19 patients to increase treatment options in response to the rapidly spreading Omiljung variant.

The WHO expert group strongly recommends Eli Lilly's neutralizing antibody baricitinib (product name: Olumiant) in combination with corticosteroids for the treatment of severe COVID-19 patients, while conditionally supporting the use of GSK-Vir neutralizing antibodies for the treatment of non-critical patients at highest risk of hospitalization.

To date, GSK-Vir's monoclonal antibody therapy is the only one that has shown efficacy against Omexjong in laboratory tests, while similar therapies from Eli Lilly and Regeneration Pharma offer less protection in laboratory tests.

However, WHO experts noted that the effectiveness of neutralizing antibodies against the Opichron variant remains uncertain, and said guidelines for such drugs will be updated in a timely manner as more data become available.

According to WHO, Amiqueron has spread in 149 countries around the world and evaded the immune protection provided by many vaccines and therapies. The latest Data from Germany shows that Omikeron has replaced Delta as the dominant epidemic strain in the country.