Beroni Group Announces Successful Completion of SARS-CoV-2 Pseudovirus Neutralization Assay for Treatment of COVID-19

Beroni Group recently announced successful completion of SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus neutralization assay in collaboration with GenScript Biotech Corporation (HKSE:1548), a leading global biotechnology company. The assay targets on coronavirus-specific nanobodies and tests affinity and efficacy to prevent the virus infection. 

On September 7, 2020, Beroni and Genscript performed an experiment to identify the most effective nanobodies. According to a recent paper published in Nature this September, nanobody-based therapy is an effective method that can be used to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 by blocking their entry into host cells mediated by an interaction between the spike glycoprotein and the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. To protect host cells from SARS-CoV-2 infection, Beroni chose different types of nanobodies as neutralizing candidates to determine which nanobodies could block the entry of SARS-CoV-2 with highest efficacy.

Nanobodies are single-domain antibodies. Compared with common antibodies, nanobodies are much smaller. Beroni aims at developing coronavirus-specific nanobodies as a treatment of COVID-19, which can be targeted on lung by aerosolization, rather than by intravenous drug administration. In order to find the most appropriate nanobodies in the field of affinity and efficacy, 12 types of nanobodies were evaluated as samples in the experiment.

In this experiment, ACE2 overexpression cells were used as target cells. The positive control was with ACE2-Fc added and negative control was with virus only. The samples’ potency on neutralization were evaluated by performing SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus neutralization assay. Among the samples tested, one candidate nanobody demonstrated over 90% signal reduction against the pseudovirus. And another three candidate nanobodies achieved an approximate 50% inhabitation of pseudovirus infection. The results of the experiment show that positive control provided a significant neutralizing activity against the SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus.

“We are encouraged by the experimental results. The results showed one type of nanobodies has been able to produce 90% virus signal reduction. This data will allow us to accelerate research and development timelines, and further advance preclinical research study. Simultaneously, we will continue to identify and test other types of nanobodies and make efforts to find the most proper ones in terms of affinity and efficacy,” said Jacky Zhang, Chairman and CEO of Beroni Group. “Beroni are now utilizing nanobody technology to develop both detection and treatment solutions for COVID-19. We believe our technology has the potential to protect against coronavirus transmission and treat the complications of COVID-19.”

Beroni Group is an international biopharmaceutical enterprise dedicated to the innovation and commercialization of drugs and therapies to combat various global diseases such as cancer and infectious diseases. Its diversified portfolio is composed of a US FDA-approved virus diagnostic kit, an e-commerce platform for the sale of pharmaceutical products, and a development pipeline targeting oncology and cell therapies. Beroni has operations in Australia, the US, China, and Japan. For more information, visit www.beronigroup.com.

Genscript Biotech Corporation, a global biotech company listed on Hong Kong Stock Exchange, is a leading life sciences research and application service provider that applies its proprietary technology to various fields from basic life sciences research to translational biomedical development, industrial synthetic products, and cell therapeutic solutions. The company’s mission is to “Make the Human and Nature Healthier through Biotechnology”.