Multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced Tuesday that it has started a clinical trial for an antibody therapy intended to prevent and treat COVID-19.
The company said the experimental drug, AZD7442, combines of two monoclonal antibodies derived from convalescent patients with COVID-19, the company said in a statement.
The antibodies were discovered by scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and licensed to AstraZeneca in June. Pre-clinical studies showed they can block the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 from binding to host cells, protecting against infection in cell and animal models of disease.
The trial, which will involve dozens of healthy participants in Britain, is funded by U.S. government.
Should AZD7442 prove safe and effective, AstraZeneca said it will proceed with larger Phase II and III trials.
