[Courtesy of Celltrion]
SEOUL -- Celltrion, a South Korean bio firm involved in a state project to find the treatment of COVID-19 patients, will conduct a test to determine if its COVID-19 antibody treatment, CT-P59, has the effect of infection prevention and initial virus death.
The test will cover about 1,000 people who had close contact with confirmed patients or asymptomatic virus carriers. Second and third-stage clinical trials are under way to verify the efficacy and safety of CT-P59. Celltrion has vowed to complete preparations for the mass supply of therapeutic antibodies for emergency domestic use by the end of this year.
As CT-P59 has the advantage of forming antibodies immediately after administration, medical personnel and other vulnerable people will be able to prevent infections, Celltrion said. "We will do our best and contribute to preventing the spread of COVID-19 and ending the situation by demonstrating the importance of early diagnosis and early treatment from this preventive clinical stage," said Lee Sang-joon, a senior vice president who leads Celltrion's clinical trials.
South Korea has unveiled a roadmap for the treatment of COVID-19 to develop plasma treatment by the year's end as well as antibody treatment and vaccines next year. In an evaluation test, Celltrion's antibody treatment was found to be effective in neutralizing the mutated strain of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
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