Viet Nam is ready to cooperate with French company Xenothera in conducting the phase 3 human trials of and transferring production technology of XAV-19 COVID-19 treatment drug, said Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thua.

Tran made the above statement during an online meeting with the Nantes-based biotech Xenothera on September 7.

Xenothera Presdietn Odile Duvaux welcomed Viet Nam’s proposal, saying his company is willing to discuss further on transfer of production technology to help Viet Nam proactively produce the drug in the future.

Right after the meeting, a Vietnamese company had in-depth discussions with Xenothera to prepare for the signing of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the third phase of clinical trials of XAV-19 and technology transfer.

XAV-19 is a treatment for patients with moderate COVID-19. It is a heterologous swine glyco-humanized polyclonal antibody (GH-pAb) raised against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, blocking infection of ACE-2-positive human cells with SARS-CoV-2.

The results of the first and second phases of the clinical studies indicate that the drug is both safe and effective in preventing disease progression, neutralizing the virus, and reducing inflammation in patients.

The third phase of clinical trials has been underway in France and other European countries like Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and Spain./.