7 July 2020 - - As part of the US government's Operation Warp Speed, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant secretary for Preparedness and Response at the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Defense Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense have awarded US-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) a USD 450m contract to manufacture and supply REGN-COV2, the company said.

REGN-COV2 is Regeneron's investigational double antibody cocktail that is currently in two Phase 2/3 clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19 and in a Phase 3 trial for the prevention of COVID-19 infection.

Regeneron began scaling up manufacturing of REGN-COV2 at business risk in spring of 2020.

This agreement supports continued manufacturing so that the product could be made available immediately in the United States if clinical trials are successful and the US Food and Drug Administration grants Emergency Use Authorization or product approval.

The agreement covers a fixed number of bulk lots that are intended to be completed in the fall of 2020, as well as fill/finish and storage activities. 

The ongoing REGN-COV2 clinical programme is evaluating multiple dosages and will help establish the exact number of potential treatment doses (estimated range of 70,000 to 300,000) or prevention doses (estimated range of 420,000 to 1.3m) available from these lots in total.

Initial doses may be ready as early as end of summer. If EUA or product approval is granted, the government has committed to making doses from these lots available to the American people at no cost and would be responsible for their distribution.

Regeneron continues to work to maximize manufacturing capacity of REGN-COV2 within Regeneron and with potential partners.

Regeneron scientists evaluated thousands of fully-human antibodies produced by the company's proprietary VelocImmune mice, which have been genetically-modified to have a human immune system, as well as antibodies identified from humans who have recovered from COVID-19.

They selected the two most potent, non-competing and virus-neutralizing antibodies to create REGN-COV2 and have scaled up this dual-antibody cocktail with the company's in-house VelociMab and manufacturing capabilities.

REGN-COV2's two antibodies bind non-competitively to the critical receptor binding domain of the virus's spike protein, which diminishes the ability of mutant viruses to escape treatment and protects against spike variants that have arisen in the human population, as detailed in recent Science publications.

More recent research also demonstrates coverage against the now prevalent D614G variant.

Regeneron used the same 'rapid response' capabilities and cocktail approach to develop REGN-EB3, a novel triple antibody treatment for Ebola that is now under regulatory review by the FDA.

REGN-COV2's development and manufacturing has been funded in part with federal funds from the BARDA under OT number: HHSO100201700020C.