IMNM Stock Jumps 30% on News That Antibody Cocktail Neutralizes Delta Variant

Pre-clinical trials show treatment effective against most recent COVID variant…
Company to apply for approval from FDA…
CDC warns of rapid increase in Delta variant cases…

As the Delta variant of COVID continues to spread, one biotech is rallying after releasing data that shows its antibody cocktail neutralizes the mutated version of the virus.

IMNM stock rose more than 30% on the news.

Immunome Inc (NASDAQ: IMNM) says its “three-antibody cocktail (IMM-BCP-01) has demonstrated potent neutralizing activity against the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in pre-clinical pseudovirus testing.”

That antibody cocktail has already been shown to neutralize all other variants of the virus.

Purnanand Sarma, Ph.D., President & CEO of Immunome, said, “IMM-BCP-01’s ability to maintain neutralizing activity against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the Delta variant, potentially positions our drug candidate as a long-term solution to the changing threat posed by COVID-19.”

“We believe our lead candidate’s mechanism of action, targeting at least three non-overlapping epitopes – informed by authentic human immune response – provides a robust defense against future mutational drift.”

The news comes as concern has mounted about the pace of economic recovery due to the spread of the Delta variant in the U.S.

The CDC says that variant now accounts for 83% of all sequenced COVID cases in the country.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told the Senate today, “This is a dramatic increase up from 50% the week of July 3.”

Immunome said it plans to submit an investigational new drug (IND) application with the FDA this quarter which would allow the antibody cocktail to be used as a treatment.

The company also said it “intends to explore opportunities to expedite the development of this potential therapeutic.”

A Closer Look at IMNM Stock

Immunome was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Pennsylvania.
Immunome’s market cap is nearly $200 million.
The company says it was “founded to advance the discovery and development of antibody-based drugs.”
Immunome’s “Discovery Engine identifies novel therapeutic antibodies, and their antigen targets, by leveraging the most highly-educated components of the B cells from patients who have learned to fight off their disease.”
The company is focused on oncology and infectious diseases.
Immunome has interrogated more than 150 patient samples and produced more than 250,000 hybridomas from patients with various cancers and infectious diseases.
Immunome says its goal “is to become a leading biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative antibody therapeutics for areas of high unmet medical need.”
There are currently two drugs in the company’s pipeline including the COVID antibody treatment, IMM-BCP-01, and a cancer treatment, IMM-ONC-01.