By Dan Murphy
Westchester County has been hit hard by the Coronavirus Pandemic. Yonkers is now the hot spot in the county, overtaking New Rochelle with more than 1400x cases. Across the country and the world, scientist are hard at work to find a vaccine or treatment.
Here in Westchester, the biotechnology company Regeneron is working towards that goal, first by initiating tests using an existing drug Kevzara, which is normally used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. This drug works as an anti-inflammatory, which is what is needed as COVID-19 restricts bronchial tubes.
Regeneron is also developing brand new therapeutic antibodies to prevent the infection or treat infected patients. “Regeneron is applying our 30 years of scientific and technology expertise to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. We feel uniquely positioned to meet this public health threat using our proprietary VelociSuite technologies and our track record for rapid response against infectious diseases, such as Ebola,” writes the company on its website–
“Based on recent clinical data from studies in China with another IL-6 inhibitor, we believe there is a potential role for Kevzara in the treatment of severe and critical hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Together with our collaborators at Sanofi, we are conducting controlled clinical studies to evaluate Kevzara in this setting. The use of Kevzara to treat people with COVID-19 is investigational and has not been fully evaluated by any regulatory authority.
“The global trial program is now enrolling patients at medical centers in the United States, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Canada and Russia. The Phase 2 and 3 trial is designed to enroll approximately 400 patients. To determine eligibility, speak to your doctor to discuss your condition and possible treatment.
“Visit clinicaltrials.gov for more information. We are using our end-to-end antibody technologies to discover and develop brand new therapeutic antibodies for this disease. Our planned ‘cocktail’ treatment of two antibodies will be studied to see if it could be used to prevent infection or to treat patients already infected with the virus.
“To date, we have produced hundreds of virus-neutralizing antibodies in our genetically-engineered mice, and are currently selecting the most potent candidates. We are aiming to have enough quantities ready to begin human testing by early summer, and we hope to scale up production to 200,000 preventative doses or approximately 20,000 treatment doses per month by the end of August,” writes Regeneron, who expanded its Westchester footprint in 2015.
In a recent interview, Regeneron CEO Leonard Schleifer explained how the company is speeding drug discovery, and working to help affected patients in 3 different ways. “First, try to take existing drugs that may have been developed for other purposes and see if they will work for Covid-19. Second, give people a human antibody that can fight off infection until there are vaccines around. Third, get a vaccine so that the body can make these antibodies itself.”
After getting approval from the Food and Drug Administration, Regeneron has begun a clinical trial in New York to see if Keyzara can help bring down inflammation in the lungs of COVID-19 patients. Schleifer added that if the patient trials are successful, Regeneron has “lots of the drug on hand and can make much more.”
The hope is that Keyzara can keep people from getting sick enough to need intensive care treatment in a hospital and require the use of a respirator to breathe. Results of the testing studies should be available at the end of April.
Regeneron is also renowned for its use of genetic engineering of mice that may be able to generate human antibodies that can be used to create a vaccine. The same method was used in the fight against the Ebola virus.
Schleifer said that Regeneron already has found or created hundreds of antibodies that neutralize this virus. We’re going to pick the best and manufacture a cocktail. We hope to get started testing patients in June and manufacturing at large scale by the end of the summer.
Regeneron co-founder George Yancopoulos created the genetically-engineered mice 35 years ago and has since perfected them. Regeneron also has the capabilities to conduct their research, create an antibody and manufacture a vaccine or a treatment, all in house, or end-to end technology as it is called.
As Regeneron sits in the middle of Westchester County, one of the hardest hit counties in the USA from COVID-19, profits are not at the center of the companies thought process. “You have people who are risking their health, and that of their families, by coming to work in the labs and manufacturing facilities to do all that stuff with only one goal in mind: How fast can Regeneron produce this and deliver it to the public? They’re heroes and we want to do well by doing good. The rest will take care of itself,” said Yancopoulos.
Jim Cramer, CNBC -wall street guru—said “I think Regeneron has the best hope for fighting the pandemic. The company’s stock, symbol REGN on the NASDAQ, is up 30% in recent weeks as the rest of the market is down 30%.
Their Tarrytown and Mt. Pleasant headquarters and labs were expanded in 2015. Now all of us can root for a local, biotech company to find a cure for COVID-19.
