Biocon's antibody-drug to prevent, treat Covid-19 likely next year: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

This is a single jab that can be taken by anyone who cannot take the Covid vaccine, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said, adding that it would be available at affordable prices

Bengaluru-based biopharmaceutical company Biocon Biologics, a subsidiary of Biocon Ltd, is working on a biologic jab to prevent and treat coronavirus and its variants. The new drug, which is undergoing Phase 2 & Phase 3 trials, is likely to be launched during the next financial year.

A top company official said the new jab, called ADG20, an antibody therapy being developed by Biocon’s partner, can be taken in outpatient settings. It targets the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and related coronaviruses.

“We are working with our US-based partner Adagio Therapeutics for a technology transfer for manufacturing the drug in India as soon we get the emergency use authorisation (EUA) in India. Hopefully, we will be able to launch it next fiscal. We have exclusive licence to manufacture and commercialise the drug in India and some other emerging markets,” Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, executive chairperson of Biocon, told DH.

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This is a single jab that can be taken by anyone who cannot take the Covid vaccine, she said, adding that it would be available at affordable prices.

“Adagio is an intramuscular injection that can destroy the virus with one jab the moment you test positive and you take it,” she said and added that it will provide longer-lasting protection compared to the vaccine.

In July, Biocon Biologics got into an agreement with Adagio Therapeutics.