Chairman of TaiMed Biologics, Dr. James Chang, said that two of its monoclonal antibodies, TMB-365 and TMB-380, will be used in a clinical trial for the treatment of HIV in the first 1b/2a of the year, and is expected to announce the Phase I data in September.

TaiMed is optimistic that business will return to normal after the epidemic, and the potential of the TMB-365/TMB-380 combination therapy is strong.

According to Dr. Chang, the US HIV market has a business opportunity of over US$10 billion, with more than 30 types of drugs, but only three pharmaceutical companies have long-acting drugs, the fastest progress is the combination therapy Cabenuva developed by ViiV, a GSK company, which is treated once a month, with sales reaching US$800 million last year. In addition to Trogarzo, a new long-acting monoclonal anti-body drug that is administered once every two weeks, TaiMed also has a two-monthly dose of TMB-365/TMB-380 combination therapy.

However, Gilead's new drug is a small-molecule monotherapy, which not only makes it difficult to demonstrate the long-acting dosage form, but also raises concerns about side effects, whereas TMB-365/TMB-380 is a cocktail therapy.

TMB-365 and TMB-380 are cocktail therapies, both of which are new anti-body drugs with low side effects and are quite competitive. TMB-365 and TMB-380 are currently planned to have phase II clinical data before starting external negotiations for collaboration or licensing, according to Dr. Chang.