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July 10, 2020 Bioscience

Mass. General to use BioXcel drug to treat ‘ICU delirium’ in COVID-19 patients

PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED BioXcel CEO Vimal Mehta
By Natalie Missakian

Massachusetts General Hospital will use a New Haven biotechnology company’s experimental agitation drug to treat symptoms of “ICU delirium” in critically ill patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

BioXcel Therapeutics said Thursday that doctors at the hospital will have access to the company’s drug, BXCL501, for “compassionate use” under the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s expanded access program.

The program allows patients with an immediately life-threatening condition to receive experimental drugs before regulatory approval and outside of clinical trials in cases where there are no comparable or satisfactory therapies available.

Medical professionals have been reporting a high number of critically ill COVID-19 patients on ventilators experiencing ICU delirium -- a sudden, intense confusion that can include hallucinations. 

Dr. Seun Johnson-Akeju, anesthetist in chief at Mass. General’s department of anesthesia, critical care and pain medicine, said the hospital’s intensive care workers have witnessed the increase firsthand.

“The COVID-19 surge caused an acute shortage of medications for managing agitation,” Johnson-Akeju added. “We are hopeful that BXCL501 will improve the clinical outcomes of critically ill patients diagnosed with COVID-19 that are struggling with agitation and ICU delirium.” 

BXCL501 is a thin-film version of an older Pfizer drug, dexmedetomidine (Dex). It looks similar to a mouthwash strip and dissolves under the tongue.

BioXcel is currently testing the drug in four separate clinical trials to treat agitation associated with dementia, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and opioid withdrawal.

Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com

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