A Singapore-based company will start human clinical trials next week for a treatment that could slow down the progression of COVID-19 in patients, help them recover faster, and provide temporary protection against the coronavirus.

In a media release on June 10th, Tychan, a Singapore-based biotechnology company, said it has received approval from the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for the Phase 1 clinical safety trial in healthy volunteers.

The firm has developed TY027, a monoclonal antibody that specifically targets SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Monoclonal antibodies can be isolated and manufactured in large quantities to treat diseases.

Presently, there is no proven antibody-based treatment for COVID-19. There is also no licensed vaccine to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection, Tychan said.

Tychan may become the first firm to start its human clinical trial in Singapore, although efforts in developing an antibody-based treatment are underway here and globally. As of Tuesday, Tychan’s was the only registered clinical trial internationally for such a treatment.

Depending on the results of the trial, there are various ways it can be used, said Professor Ooi Eng Eong of Duke-National University of Singapore (Duke-NUS) Medical School, who is also the firm’s co-founder.

“You could use it to treat all COVID-19 patients and prevent them from getting severe disease. You could also give it to those who are going to get severe disease and prevent them then from sliding further in their respiratory function,” he said.

For those who already require oxygen, the hope is that the drug will prevent them from needing a ventilator, and for patients who are already on ventilators, that they could go off the ventilators, he added.

“If the treatment works for COVID-19, then we could change a lot. We could reduce a lot of problems that we face,” he said, noting that patients with severe disease need oxygen and ventilators, without which they would die.

“We hope that this treatment that we have will reduce the number of people who go into such severe disease and hopefully, the number of people who die of COVID-19 becomes minimal,” he said.

The drug will also be evaluated for its potential to provide temporary protection against infection with SARS-CoV-2, Tychan said.  

“We could even, for instance, give this to healthcare workers who are treating COVID-19 patients so that they don't get infections themselves,” Prof Ooi said, adding that this would depend on the results of the trial.

People traveling to places with many COVID-19 cases could also use the drug to prevent infection, he said.

However, he cautioned that many drugs fail at clinical trial stage and do not get licences.

“There's still a lot of work for us to do,” he said.

"Rapidly developing a cure for COVID-19 is exactly the raison d’etre (reason of existence) of Tychan," said chairman of the firm’s Board, Teo Ming Kian.

“Whilst still a few months away from knowing if we are successful, we are hopeful because of our experience in Zika and Yellow Fever. No efforts will be spared to continue the fast pace of development as we are conscious that a day saved is a day less of misery."

We hope that treatments for the COVID-19 virus can be found as soon as possible!
 

If you would like to read more about the safest countries in the world from COVID-19, click here! (Hint : Singapore and Korea are among the top 10!)