(Yicai Global) June 16 -- A unit of Chinese drugmaker Luye Pharma Group has submitted an application to the US Food and Drug Administration to begin Phase II clinical trials in the country of its Covid-19 antibody drug.

Tests in the Unites States would involve 150 volunteers, Luye Pharma said in a statement yesterday, adding that Phase II trials of LY-CovMab, developed by Boan Biotech, will be undertaken in China and Europe as well.

LY-CovMab is a human monoclonal neutralizing antibody that binds to the spike protein receptor of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, effectively blocking its attachment to the host cell. Boan Biotech has completed Phase I testing in China, which demonstrated the drug’s “good safety and tolerability profile.”

Eli Lilly, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, and Vir Biotechnology have each won FDA approval for their Covid-19 antibody treatments. The market for such drugs could be worth USD6.9 billion to USD14.6 billion if the pandemic continues to the end of this year, Chinese brokerage Industrial Securities said in a report last September

Shares of Luye Pharma [HKG:2186] closed 5.3 percent lower today at HKD5.16 (67 US cents) each. The benchmark Hang Sent Index came off 0.7 percent.

Editor: Zhang Yushuo, Futura Costaglione