A major milestone of our RapCo-19 project is to functionally identify virus neutralising antibodies directly from primary B cells obtained from patients that have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 using the RemedyBio Nanoreactor platform. This milestone was achieved following optimisation and validation of the DiCAST Nanoreactor process for mass single-cell analysis of patient-derived B cells to identify SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies. RemedyBio has incorporated antibody detection, affinity ranking and neutralisation within a single 24h screening process. Such approach allows the screening of millions B cells to select the best potential candidates on the basis of specificity and potency. Furthermore, the process of neutralisation was incorporated into the screening process, as opposed to the usual approach adopted by competitor technologies where neutralisation capacity needs to be tested downstream with lengthy (days & weeks vs hours in Nanoreactor) and labour intensive procedures (10,000 microtitre plates vs 1 array in Nanoreactor).
We have demonstrated within Deliverable 4.1 that the Rapco platform is not only capable of selecting neutralising antibodies, but that it is capable of screening against multiple variants of interest and different therapeutic modalities (Nanobodies and scFv libraries). Increasing the repertoire of potential candidates for downstream transfer for manufacture and ultimately rapid clinical deployment.
While we await the possible emergence of dangerous new variants beyond omicron, the immediate current relevance of new mABs against potential variants of concern is uncertain. Nonetheless, the need for a rapid therapeutic pandemic response platform, with capability to adapt to rapidly emerging new strains is highly valuable. The platform has been validated for identification and recovery of SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies. We maintain a high level of readiness for pandemic response and applicability for Antibody discovery and B cell screening for other applications.
For instance, we have also addressed the screening of T cells with the platform, giving their potential in long-term immunological memory response that develops following patient recovery from COVID-19
Crucially, the data obtained to date validates RemedyBio Nanoreactor platform for the rapid discovery of patient-derived human monoclonal antibodies for any future pandemic rapid response.
