iBio, Inc. announced that preclinical studies of IBIO-202, its subunit vaccine candidate that targets the nucleocapsid protein (‘N protein’) of SARS-CoV-2, demonstrated a robust, antigen-specific, memory T-cell response. Data on commercially available COVID-19 vaccines - all of which target the spike protein (“S protein”) - suggests that neutralizing titers are effective, but likely to wane over time. In addition, the robustness of T-cell priming and cellular immunity achieved by S protein-directed vaccines may not be sufficient to create a durable immune response, especially in the context of emerging variant strains of the virus. In contrast, the N protein gene is more conserved and stable than the spike, with 90% amino acid homology and fewer mutations over time. Notably, the SARS-CoV-2 N protein shares substantial sequence conservation with the nucleocapsid of other coronaviruses. It has been observed that the N protein can induce SARS-specific T-cell proliferation. The IBIO-202 immunization data are consistent with that, as a strong, cytotoxic, memory T-cell response was seen, rather than an inflammatory response. In addition, T-cell priming was achieved via both intramuscular and intranasal administration, allowing for the further exploration of multiple routes of administration and their respective benefits.
iBio, Inc. is a preclinical stage biotechnology company that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) for the development of precision antibodies. The Company develops biopharmaceuticals using computational biology and 3D-modeling of subdominant and conformational epitopes, prospectively enabling the discovery of new antibody treatments for hard-to-target cancers and other diseases. Its StableHu technology is an AI-based tool designed to predict a library of antibodies with fully human Complementarity-Determining Region (CDR) variants based on an input antibody. It is in the process of building its preclinical pipeline, which focuses primarily on immuno-oncology. Its pipeline includes IBIO-101, Endostatin E4, TROP-2 x CD3, MUC16, EGFRvIII, and CCR8. IBIO-101 is an anti-CD25 monoclonal antibody (mAb) that has demonstrated in preclinical models of disease the ability to bind and deplete immunosuppressive regulatory T (Treg) cells to inhibit the growth of solid tumors.