Novel Host-Mimetic, Virus Killing Technology Platform
SHELTON, CT / ACCESSWIRE / May 29, 2024 / NanoViricides, Inc. (NYSE American:NNVC) (the "Company"), a clinical-stage global leader in broad-spectrum antiviral nanomedicines, elaborates on its development of a first-in-class, broad-spectrum antiviral agent that could revolutionize treatment of viral infections including RSV, COVID, Influenzas and other viruses.
"Resistance is Futile" - Host-Mimetic Technology To Solve the Greatest Pain for Antiviral Medicines, i.e. Virus Escape
No matter how much a virus changes in the field, it uses the same "landing sites" in the host body to gain access to cells, attach to and then fuse into the cells, causing an infection. A drug using the same landing sites and acting as a "decoy" would remain effective against the virus even as the virus changes, because the host side does not change.
NV-387 is designed to employ such advanced "host-mimetic" technology, built into the nanoviricide™ nanomedicine that is further designed to "look like a cell" to the virus.
In contrast, vaccines, antibodies and small chemical drugs all lose their effectiveness as the virus changes in the field. The virus is constantly changing due to various natural mechanisms such as mutations, recombinations, and/or re-assortments that are native to the virus lifecycle.
Extremely Broad Antiviral Spectrum of NV-387 Resulted Because Many Diverse Viruses Use Common Host-Side Landing Sites
Over 90% of human pathogenic viruses are known to use one or more "landing sites" that are in the Sulfated Proteoglycans ("SPG") family. A successful host-mimetic nanoviricide drug using SPG as the key feature to attract viruses could theoretically be able to attack most if not all such viruses.
NV-387 is designed to mimic SPG and attack the virus as a cell-mimicking decoy. We have accumulated substantial evidence that in lethal viral infection animal studies, NV-387 demonstrated strong antiviral activity against a range of different virus families, exceeding or matching the activity of known approved drug agents.
NV-387 was substantially superior to remdesivir in coronavirus infections, using a model for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID) virus, as reported earlier. We believe that NV-387 continues to be one of the most active antiviral drugs against multiple coronaviruses, and that it is a viable clinical candidate for drug development to treat COVID, Long COVID, as well as potentially MERS, SARS, and seasonal coronavirus infections.
NV-387 was substantially superior to the three approved drugs, namely Tamiflu®, Rapivab® , and Xofluza® against an Influenza H3N2 lethal lung viral infection study, as previously reported. We believe that NV-387 is expected to possess strong antiviral activity against H5N1 "Bird Flu" as well, given that H5N1 viruses are known to bind to heparan sulfate proteoglycans, and based on the observed broad-spectrum activity of NV-387.
NV-387 was at least as good as TPOXX® in a model animal study for the development of Smallpox/Mpox drugs, in two different ways of acquiring infection, as reported earlier.
Further, we found that NV-387 is capable of completely curing a lethal RSV lung virus infection in animals, leading to indefinite survival of the animals, as reported recently. There is no cure for RSV, and no approved drug for treatment of RSV infection other than the toxic last-resort drug ribavirin.
Moreover, even novel viruses, whether from natural sources or bio-engineered, are expected to be susceptible to NV-387 if they employ SPG for gaining access to human cells to infect and cause disease. Thus, NV-387 could be highly valuable for preparedness against novel viral epidemics and pandemics.
NV-387 could thus be a single drug to treat all of the "tripledemic" viruses, and more, when so approved.
Safety of NV-387 Studied Successfully in Phase I Human Clinical Trials with No Adverse Events
NV-387 is inherently designed to be safe, by careful choice of the components of the nanoviricide polymeric chemical, and this was borne out in our studies.
Leading to the human clinical trials, we had found that the safety of NV-387 was demonstrated by the very large NOAEL value of 1,200mg/Kg and MTD value of 1,500mg/Kg in rats. We had also found that NV-387 was non-mutagenic, non-genotoxic, non-immunogenic, and studies indicated that allergenicity was not an issue; all parameters that indicate excellent safety.
A Phase I clinical trial of NV-387 Oral Syrup and NV-387 Oral Gummies was completed successfully with no adverse events reported. We are awaiting reports from the CRO to further elaborate on the findings.
"An antiviral agent with an extra-ordinarily broad spectrum of antiviral activity, coupled with strong safety, is a ‘holy grail' of antiviral medicines," said Anil R. Diwan, Ph.D., President and Executive Chairman of the Company, adding, "Our host-mimetic, direct-acting, nanoviricide™ platform technology capable of destroying virus particles has made this possible, we believe. NV-387 is now ready for Phase II studies towards the goal of regulatory approvals worldwide." He further commented, "If and when approved, NV-387 could be as revolutionary an antiviral agent as penicillin was as an anti-bacterial agent."
NanoViricides, Inc. (the "Company") (www.nanoviricides.com) is a development stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for antiviral therapy. The Company's novel nanoviricide® class of drug candidates are designed to specifically attack enveloped virus particles and to dismantle them. Additionally, nanoviricides mimick the host-side features that the viruses continue to require in spite of mutations, and therefore the viruses would be highly unlikely to escape the nanvoricide drugs.
Our lead drug candidate is NV-387 (drug product NV-CoV-2) for the treatment of RSV, COVID-19, Long COVID, Influenza, Bird Flu H5N1, and other respiratory viral infections. NV-387 has successfully completed a Phase 1a/1b human clinical trial in healthy subjects with no reported adverse events even at the highest and repeated dosages. This trial was conducted by the drug sponsor, Karveer Meditech Pvt. Ltd., our licensee and collaborator in India.
The Company is currently focused on advancing NV-387 into Phase II human clinical trials for treatment of RSV infection.
Our other advanced candidate is NV-HHV-1 for the treatment of Shingles rash, HSV-1 "cold sores" and HSV-2 "genital ulcers". The Company cannot project an exact date for filing an IND for any of its drugs because of dependence on a number of external collaborators and consultants.
The Company is also developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including oral and genital Herpes, viral diseases of the eye including EKC and herpes keratitis, H1N1 swine flu, H5N1 bird flu, seasonal Influenza, HIV, Hepatitis C, Rabies, Dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others. NanoViricides' platform technology and programs are based on the TheraCour® nanomedicine technology of TheraCour, which TheraCour licenses from AllExcel. NanoViricides holds a worldwide exclusive perpetual license to this technology for several drugs with specific targeting mechanisms in perpetuity for the treatment of the following human viral diseases: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV/AIDS), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Rabies, Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2), Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV), Influenza and Asian Bird Flu Virus, Dengue viruses, Japanese Encephalitis virus, West Nile Virus, Ebola/Marburg viruses, and certain Coronaviruses. The Company intends to obtain a license for poxviruses and/or enteroviruses if the initial research is successful. The Company's technology is based on broad, exclusive, sub-licensable, field licenses to drugs developed in these areas from TheraCour Pharma, Inc. The Company's business model is based on licensing technology from TheraCour Pharma Inc. for specific application verticals of specific viruses, as established at its foundation in 2005.
As is customary, the Company must state the risk factor that the path to typical drug development of any pharmaceutical product is extremely lengthy and requires substantial capital. As with any drug development efforts by any company, there can be no assurance at this time that any of the Company's pharmaceutical candidates would show sufficient effectiveness and safety for human clinical development. Further, there can be no assurance at this time that successful results against coronavirus in our lab will lead to successful clinical trials or a successful pharmaceutical product.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events. Actual events could differ materially and substantially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors. Certain statements in this release, and other written or oral statements made by NanoViricides, Inc. are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in documents filed by the company from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities. Although it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors, they may include the following: demonstration and proof of principle in preclinical trials that a nanoviricide is safe and effective; successful development of our product candidates; our ability to seek and obtain regulatory approvals, including with respect to the indications we are seeking; the successful commercialization of our product candidates; and market acceptance of our products.
The phrases "safety", "effectiveness" and equivalent phrases as used in this press release refer to research findings including clinical trials as the customary research usage and do not indicate evaluation of safety or effectiveness by the US FDA.
"NOAEL" means "No-Observed-Adevrese-Event-Level", which is the maximum dosage employed at which there were no adverse events found in animal studies.
"MTD" means "Maximum Tolerated Dose", which is the maximum dosage employed that does not compromise survival of the animals.
FDA refers to US Food and Drug Administration. IND application refers to "Investigational New Drug" application. cGMP refers to current Good Manufacturing Practices. CMC refers to "Chemistry, Manufacture, and Controls". CHMP refers to the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, which is the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) committee responsible for human medicines. API stands for "Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient". API means active pharmaceutical ingredient.
Contact:
NanoViricides, Inc.
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Public Relations Contact:
MJ Clyburn, TraDigital IR
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SOURCE: NanoViricides, Inc.