Member Article

Panthera is enrolling Covid patients for AstraZeneca’s monoclonal antibody study to reduce disease severity

Panthera is running a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of AstraZeneca’s AZD7422 TACKLE1 trial at its north Manchester site. The study is currently enrolling adult patients with mild to moderate COVID-19. The multi-center trial aims to establish whether the monoclonal antibody treatment prevents disease progression and reduces serious complications of COVID-19 and transmission.

To reduce the possibility of transmission during the trial, Panthera is treating patients in its mobile clinic at its north Manchester site. This unit is rigorously cleaned between visits to protect staff and patients. Panthera’s GCP trained staff follow strict protocols and are equipped with full PPE masks, visors, and clothing.

More than sixty percent of the patients will be older than 65 years of age or will have medical conditions which place them at high risk of progression to severe COVID-19. All the patients will have confirmed SARS-CoV-2 from testing of a respiratory tract specimen collected within three days prior to the first visit.

All patients taking part in the study will have intensive follow-up including regular check-ups for at least a year after the initial treatment.

Panthera’s north Manchester site was chosen as it is a standalone clinical trial facility, which, when coupled with its mobile clinic unit, offers a very safe clinical setting for patients who have COVID-19. Many clinical trial sites are situated within medical facilities making them inappropriate for patients with COVID-19.

The two long-acting monoclonal antibodies involved in the trial are man-made versions of naturally occurring human antibodies of the immune system.

1 TACKLE - Treating Acute COVID-19 condition with a long half-Life Engineered Antibody.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by VPR .