AlloVir receives U.S. FDA green signal for ALVR109 to treat high-risk COVID-19 patients
AlloVir, the global frontrunner in cell therapy development, recently made headlines for receiving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for ALVR109, which is indicated for the treatment of high-risk COVID-19 patients. The off-the-shelf, allogeneic virus-specific T-cell therapy candidate, ALVR109, is formulated to inhibit the progression of COVID-19 by killing the novel coronavirus-infected cells.
It has been found in previous studies that T cells play a vital role in the fight against COVID-19. More than 80% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients are lymphopenic, with significantly lower counts of CD8+ and CD4+ T cells. However, the decreased T cell counts have adverse impacts on these patients. Reduced T cell counts are most prevalent in older coronavirus patients and those at a severe stage of the disease. AlloVir’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, David Hallal, elaborated on the latest development, “SARS-CoV-2 continues to have a devastating impact on patients and families around the world. There is an increasing body of evidence about the important role of T cells in the body’s fight against COVID-19. At AlloVir, together with our colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine, we are working with a great sense of urgency to leverage our highly innovative virus-specific T-cell platform to advance ALVR109 into a proof-of-concept study in high-risk COVID-19 patients.”
AlloVir had expanded its research collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in March 2020. The study was aimed at discovering and developing allogeneic virus-specific T-cell therapies for coronavirus treatment. AlloVir is one of the most established late clinical-stage cell therapy companies based in the U.S. Its immunotherapy platform is focused on restoring the body’s natural immunity against acute viral diseases. The company is currently working towards the progress of numerous mid- and late-stage clinical trials across its platform.
