Benzinga | Jul 13, 2021 06:41AM EDT

Aridis Pharma's COVID-19 Antibody Neutralizes Delta Variant In Animal Model

* Aridis Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ARDS) has announced that its COVID-19 mAb cocktail AR-712 binds and neutralizes the Delta variant of COVID-19 at a highly effective level (~20ng/mL).

* Binding analyses project that AR-712 will be effective against all variants on the U.S. CDC's variants of interest and concern lists.

* The dual antibody cocktail will be delivered as an inhaled treatment and is expected to provide broad coverage of all known high-risk variants.

* In addition, Aridis announced preclinical development services support from NIAID (NIH) after demonstrating a robust therapeutic efficacy of inhaled delivery in a SARS-CoV-2 hamster challenge model.

* This achieved reversal of disease in infected animals at an inhaled dose of 1mg/kg, equivalent to a 10mg dose in humans from a nebulizer. For reference purposes, the dose of commercially available COVID antibody therapies is currently in the range of 500mg to 1,200mg.

* AR-712 is being developed as a self-administered, at-home inhaled treatment for COVID-19 patients who are not yet hospitalized.

* The Company remains on track to finalize the Phase 1/2/3 design for this program and initiate the clinical study in 2H 2021.

* AR-712 is a cocktail of two fully human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) mAbs discovered from screening the antibody-secreting B-cells of convalescent COVID-19 infected patients.

* Price Action: ARDS shares are down 4.3% at $6.99 during the premarket session on the last check Tuesday.