SAB Biotherapeutics, Inc. announced the publication of nonclinical data in the medical journal Antibodies. The data are from a study
conducted in collaboration with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRID) highlighting that fully-human immunoglobulins derived from Tc bovines can protect mice from Yersinia pestis, a Tier 1 select bacterial biothreat agent that can rapidly cause fatal infections and is associated with pneumonic plague as well as bubonic plague. SAB-183, the Tc bovine derived fully-human immunoglobulin, demonstrated increased opsonization and phagocytosis of Y. pestis in vitro and elicited a strong immune response with significant protection to mice exposed to Y. pestis in vivo. Y. pestis is a major biothreat due to its capacity for aerosol dissemination and its highly contagious nature in the pneumonic form. Furthermore, as the study notes, drug-resistant isolates of Y. pestis are on the rise and constitute a significant concern for the public health and biodefense communities. In lieu of any approved vaccine for this pathogen, effective antibody therapies and other countermeasures are needed to ensure preparedness. This study confirmed that rapid production of antibodies from Tc bovines provides broad protection against plague and other bacterial or viral infections and can be used to produce treatments to counter the challenges of antibiotic resistance and rapid mutation of pathogens. In contrast to monoclonal antibodies, polyclonal antibodies derived from Tc
bovines afford greater epitope coverage, which may mitigate loss of efficacy against a mutating pathogen and emergence of escape mutants.