Benzinga | Feb 23, 2021 07:21AM EST

Aridis Pharma To Test Inhaled Antibody Cocktail In COVID-19 Variants

* Aridis Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ARDS) has added its inhaled AR-711 monoclonal antibody with a second antibody, AR-713, designed to neutralize newly emerging COVID-19 mutated variants. The company says that the cocktail referred to as AR-712 will provide broad coverage of all known high-risk strains.

* Also, Aridis announced preclinical development services support from NIAID. The company is on track to initiate the program's Phase 1/2/3 trial in the second half of 2021.

* AR-711 is being developed as a self-administered, at-home inhaled treatment for COVID-19 patients who are not yet hospitalized.

* AR-711 and AR-713 are fully human immunoglobulin G1 monoclonal antibodies discovered from screening the antibody-secreting B-cells of convalescent SARS-CoV-2 virus-infected (COVID-19) patients.

* Price Action: ARDS gained 10.3% at $8 in the premarket trading on the last check Tuesday.