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March 3, 2021

Shelton company says COVID-19 treatment candidates show promise

IMAGE | Pixabay.com
By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

Nanoviricides Inc. indicated this week that its two COVID-19 drug candidates have been “highly effective” against the virus in pre-clinical laboratory studies.

The Shelton-based company is preparing a pre-IND (investigational new drug) application for the two treatments. 

These include Its lead drug candidate, NV-CoV-2, and NV-CoV-2-R. The latter combines both NV-CoV-2 and remdesivir in a single drug.

According to the company, it anticipates both will work against most coronaviruses and their variants.

Remdesivir, developed by California biopharma Gilead Sciences, has been widely used in hospitals for the treatment of patients with COVID-19, including in the Yale New Haven Health system. 

According to Nanoviricides, remdesivir has shown stronger effectiveness in cell culture studies than in clinical practice, which it attributes to rapid metabolism of the drug in a patient’s blood.

NV-CoV-2 does not encapsulate remdesivir. The NV-CoV-2-R drug candidate is made up of NV-CoV-2 with remdesivir encapsulated in it. This encapsulation protects remdesivir from the body’s metabolism in order to improve its effectiveness, according to the company. 

Nanoviricides plans to report on the results of its studies in its pre-IND application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

The company is seeking appropriate sites and preparing protocols for human clinical trials. 

Nanoviricides compares how its technology works against viruses to how the Venus fly trap plant works against insects.

“Unlike antibodies that tag the virus and require the human immune system to take over and complete the task of dismantling the virus, a nanoviricide is a nanomachine that is designed to not only bind to the virus but also complete the task of rendering the virus particle ineffective,” the company said.

Nanoviricides’ stock (NNVC) was trading at $5.66 a share as of Wednesday afternoon. It reached a highpoint of $8.71 on Tuesday following its announcement, according to Nasdaq.

Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.

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