WAKEFIELD, MA – April 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) Innovation Pharmaceuticals (OTCQB:IPIX) (“the Company”), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced that Brilacidin, the Company’s defensin-mimetic drug candidate, was featured in the “Mason Science Series: Rising to the National and International COVID-19 Challenge,” a presentation of George Mason University.
The presentation covers the latest research of Dr. Aarthi Narayanan, a faculty member in George Mason’s National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases, and her team’s (and associated teams) efforts, which are geared towards the development of therapeutics and vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, including Brilacidin. A video of Dr. Narayanan’s presentation can be accessed at the link below. Discussion of Brilacidin begins at approximately the 40-minute mark.
· Mason Science Series: Rising to the National and International COVID-19 Challenge - YouTube
Dr. Narayanan has been leading ongoing research assessing Brilacidin’s broad spectrum antiviral potential, with preliminary in vitro data showing Brilacidin potently inhibits both coronaviruses and alphaviruses. As previously released, these data will serve as the basis for an Oral Presentation on Brilacidin’s antiviral properties to be delivered at the American Society of Virology’s 40th Annual Meeting (ASV 2021), taking place July 19-23, 2021.
Variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus continue to pose a significant challenge in the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, the B.1.1.7 variant, first discovered in the United Kingdom, is the most common variant in the U.S., according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky. Due to a potential lessened therapeutic effect against variants, monoclonal antibody treatments have been called into question. Eli Lilly, for example, recently stopped supplying bamlanivimab as a solo therapy for treatment of COVID-19. Variants are showing a similar ability to reduce the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, with safety concerns associated with vector-based vaccines surfacing.
To help satisfy a large unmet need in the antiviral therapeutics area, the Company is developing Brilacidin as a potential novel broad spectrum antiviral drug.
About Brilacidin and COVID-19
Innovation Pharma is developing Brilacidin for COVID-19 under Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and currently is enrolling patients in a Phase 2 clinical trial of Brilacidin for treatment of moderate-to-severe COVID-19 in hospitalized patients (see NCT04784897). Upon recently completing a scheduled review of interim safety data from the trial, an independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) recommended increasing the dosing regimen of Brilacidin from 3 days to 5 days of treatment, which may maximize therapeutic benefits and provide a comparison with 5-day remdesivir (Veklury™), currently the only FDA-approved treatment for COVID-19. The annual global antiviral drug market is estimated to reach $44 billion by 2026.
A peer-reviewed article in Viruses supporting Brilacidin’s COVID-19 treatment potential can be accessed at the link below.
· Bakovic, A.; Risner, K.; Bhalla, N. (et al). Brilacidin Demonstrates Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 in Cell Culture. Viruses 2021, 13, 271; https://doi.org/10.3390/v13020271
https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/2/271