The US-based Adagio Therapeutics has granted Biocon Biologics Ltd., a biosimilars company and a subsidiary of Biocon Ltd, an exclusive licence to manufacture and commercialise an antibody treatment based on ADG20 for India and select emerging markets.

ADG20, a novel monoclonal antibody targeting the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and related coronaviruses, is in global clinical development by Adagio as a single agent for both the treatment and prevention of Covid-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, its variants, as well as future variants that may emerge, a statement from the company said on Monday.

The statement said initial data indicates that ADG20, Adagio’s lead clinical development candidate, could provide both rapid and durable protection against Covid-19 for up to one year. This could make it an ideal agent to prevent infections and significantly reduce Covid-19 related hospitalisations and death. With its potential to address resistant variants, including the Delta variant, and its ability to be administered easily as a single, intramuscular injection in the outpatient setting, ADG20 is uniquely poised to address the current need for an effective, safe and convenient therapy for Covid-19.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the executive chairperson of Biocon Biologics Ltd, said: “This partnership with Adagio aligns our joint vision of bringing superior biologic therapies to millions of patients in low and middle-income countries. Vaccines alone will not protect and make the world safer. Biologic therapies that arrest the virus in its path of devastation is a necessity for sustainable protection and safety.”

"We believe that Covid-19 will become an endemic disease requiring a variety of effective, safe and convenient treatment and prevention options for years to come," the statement said.

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