Fabentech has been awarded 9.2 million euros to develop its treatment against Covid-19 and its variants
The EPIC-CROWN-2 project, initiated by the Lyon-based biotech company, has received funding to the tune of 9.2 million euros from the European Commission. Thanks to this grant, awarded in the context of the first call for HERA projects (HERA is a new European authority dedicated to preparing and responding to health emergencies), Fab’entech will be able to accelerate the development of its clinical programme in order to provide, as rapidly as possible, its treatment against SARS-CoV-2.
EPIC-CROWN-2 TO ACCELERATE THE CLINICAL PHASE
The EPIC-CROWN-2 project, driven by Fab’entech as part of a consortium of 5 partners1, was selected by the European Commission in response to the first call for HERA projects to combat SARS-Cov-2 and its variants. With global funding of 9.2 million euros, the consortium is one of the 11 European projects selected. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Fab’entech has drawn on its expertise and past experience in the field of infectious diseases to develop and produce a polyclonal antibody treatment against SARS-Cov-2 with high neutralising ability known as FABENCOV. Targeting the treatment of at-risk patients with moderate to severe symptoms of respiratory distress, it has provided the preclinical demonstration of its efficacy against the main variants currently circulating.
The aim of the EPIC-CROWN-2 project is rapid assessment of the clinical benefits of FABENCOV in a multi-centre Phase II a/b study on 400 patients, conducted in four European countries. Moreover, additional studies conducted in vitro and in vivo will make it possible to optimise the product’s therapeutic indications by documenting its neutralising ability on variants of interest and by evaluating the clinical biomarkers used to refine the target population.
VALUABLE EUROPEAN SUPPORT FOR FAB’ENTECH
Since its creation in 2009, Fab’entech has been at the heart of the fight against infectious diseases. The support received means international recognition for Fab’entech ; it validates its approach and the relevance of its research in the fight against Covid-19.
We are proud and happy to be one of the winners in the first call for HERA projects. The funding rewards the great efforts made by our associates and partners. This is a real collective success. These funds will help accelerate the development of our treatment against
concludes Sébastien Iva, President of Fabentech.
¹ HISS, Hellenic Institute for the Study of Sepsis (Athènes, Grèce) – IRD, Institut de Recherche et Développement (Montpellier, France) – IMAS12, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre (Madrid, Espagne) – BNITM, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (Hambourg, Allemagne)
