Thanks to Aegros’ revolutionary HaemaFrac® technology, we have created a hyperimmune product from convalescent plasma to fight Covid-19, that is ready to begin clinical trial prior to being approved to take its place among the limited weapons doctors have to combat this pandemic virus.
This is a massive step for Aegros. As a start-up company in the biopharma space, we are doing our part of help doctors and patients, as we collectively come to terms with Covid-19, a virus that is upturning life as we know it.
Congratulations to all the Aegros team members, supporters and investors who have helped us reach this point.
Your faith in the HaemaFrac® and its unique capabilities have sustained us through the development of this novel technology and has helped us rise to the challenge of producing a medicine with great potential at this difficult time for communities around the world.
The medical community has long known of the value of plasma derived medicinal products (PDMPs), especially when it comes to the role of antibodies and immune responses.
Convalescent plasma contains antibodies; proteins made by the immune system that bind to, and neutralise, viruses before they can infect a cell. Through a donation of whole blood or blood plasma, the high levels of antibodies produced by patients who have recovered can be captured and transferred to someone who is unable to mount an effective defence against the virus.
A hyperimmune isolates specific antibodies from donated convalescent plasma, so that the infusion the patient receives is highly concentrated with antibodies targeted to the virus of concern – in this case Covid-19.
Through this mechanism a passive, temporary protection against a virus can be transferred from someone who has recovered to someone who, for example, can’t receive a vaccine due to interactions with existing medications or because they are immunocompromised.
While we all await our turn to have a vaccine jab, it is worth keeping in mind that research indicates around 3% of people won’t be able to take a vaccine due to being immunosuppressed, while up to 20% of people may not be able to respond fully to a vaccine due to underlying medical conditions.
Aegros, a pioneer of ElectroSeparation, and its HaemaFrac® technology have succeeded in producing a hyperimmune that has the potential to pass on a passive immunity from a Covid-19 recovered patient, to some who can’t benefit from a vaccine.
While this trial is a necessary step before this hyperimmune can be made available to patients and doctors, it worth noting that getting a hyperimmune to this point is an achievement that no other Australian plasma fractionator has been able to achieve, demonstrating the versatility and robustness of the HaemaFrac®.
Blood plasma collected by LifeBlood from Australian donors who have recovered from Covid-19 has been used to create this hyperimmune that is now ready for the first phase of its clinical trial.
A group of 15 patients are receiving their dosing at Sydney’s Prince of Wales hospital, after which they will be monitored. The safety profile of the hyperimmune will be studied and additional rounds of clinical trials will investigate the hyperimmune’s stability and pharmacokinetics; or how the human body’s metabolism affects the longevity, uptake, and excretion of the sought-after antibodies.
Aegros looks forward to the success of this phase of the clinical trial of its Covid-19 hyperimmune and to bringing you additional updates as this promising new weapon against the pandemic continues its journey to approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, as a powerful new weapon against Covid-19.