Successful partnership between Humabs and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine

Humabs BioMed, a privately owned spin-off company of the IRB, is focusing on the discovery of next-generation human monoclonal antibodies to treat infectious and inflammatory diseases. The study, which involved collaborators from the Policlinico San Matteo IRCCS, Pavia (IT) and the University of Lausanne (CH), was partially funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the European Research Council.

MPE8 is the first neutralizing antibody that targets four different human and animal viruses, in particular the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and the metapneumovirus (MPV) that cause severe lower respiratory tract infections. MPE8 represents a new promising drug for the prophylaxis as well as for the therapy of respiratory infections in infants and immunosuppressed patients. MPE8 also identifies a conserved structure shared by different viruses, which could lead to the development of a new vaccine capable of conferring protection against multiple viruses.

RSV and MPV are a prominent cause of respiratory diseases ranging from common cold to severe infection of the lower respiratory tract and have been implicated in the development of asthma. RSV and MPV infections can be fatal in newborns and in immunosuppressed patients who have undergone stem cell or lung transplantation with mortality up to 40%.

About Humabs
Humabs is a privately owned Swiss Biotech company incorporated as a spin-off of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB). The company discovers and develops next-generation fully human monoclonal antibodies. The discovery technologies have been developed at the IRB by Professor Dr. Antonio Lanzavecchia and have been out licensed to Humabs in 2004. Humabs is focusing on the creation of unique antibodies to treat infectious and inflammatory diseases for clinical development through pharmaceutical partners. The company has already partnered with two major pharmaceutical companies for taking two of its programs, anti HCMV and anti FluA & FluB antibodies, to clinical development. President and CEO of Humabs is Alcide Barberis, co-founder and former CSO of Esbatech.