Altimmune Shows Strong Neutralization of South African Variant in Preclinical Study

 Similar Neutralization Titers Observed for Both Ancestral

and B.1.351 South African Variant

Phase I Clinical Trial of AdCOVID Expected to Report Data in June 2021

Altimmune, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALT), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced new results from a preclinical study demonstrating the ability of its AdCOVID vaccine candidate to neutralize the rapidly emerging SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351 variant of concern that originated in South Africa. B.1.351 carries multiple mutations in the receptor binding domain (RBD) including the E484K mutation that has been shown to substantially decrease the ability of authorized vaccines to neutralize the virus.

In the current study, performed in collaboration with investigators at Saint Louis University, the neutralizing titer against the B.1.351 variant virus was only 4.4-fold lower than the neutralizing titer against an original or ancestral Wuhan-like isolate when measured seven weeks after a single intranasal dose of AdCOVID. Furthermore, in mice that received a booster dose of AdCOVID, the reduction in the neutralizing titer against the B.1.351 variant was only 1.8-fold lower at seven weeks post vaccination; statistically the same as the neutralization titer against the Wuhan isolate. The serum neutralizing antibody titers were determined using a live virus focus reduction neutralization titer (FRNT) assay with a 50% neutralization endpoint.

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