Biopharmaceutical company SAB Biotherapeutics (SAB) has received US Government funding for manufacturing of SAB-185, its clinical stage therapeutic candidate for COVID-19, the company announced on Monday.

As part of Operation Warp Speed, SAB was granted USD57.5m from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Defense Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND).

SAB-185 is currently being tested as a COVID-19 therapeutic in an ongoing Phase 1 trial in healthy volunteers and an ongoing Phase Ib trial in patients with mild or moderate COVID-19.

Developed from SAB's DiversitAb Rapid Response Antibody Program, the therapeutic has shown neutralization of both the Munich and Washington strains of mutated virus in preclinical studies. Preclinical data has also demonstrated SAB-185 to be significantly more potent than human-derived convalescent plasma, SAB said.