- Lexaria Bioscience has completed a study conducted by Canada’s National Research Council for the use of its DehydraTECH IP with five drugs known to target the main protease associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, including remdesivir
- The SARS-CoV-2 infection is the underlying force behind the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed millions of people during the past year and currently has begun trending toward a rising infection rate again
- DehydraTECH technology helps drugs gain better bioavailability through quick and effective introduction into patients’ bloodstreams using oral administration as opposed to injections
- The recent study results demonstrate that DehydraTECH-processed remdesivir, ebastine, bepridil, rupintrivir, and colchicine, did not create unwanted covalently-bonded new molecular entities (“NMEs”), or changes in chemical structure
Media outlets have been reporting a new rising trend in COVID-19 infections, signaling health policy concerns about the potential for significant new demands on the medical community and raising questions about the sociological implications in the United States shortly before the new school year opens (https://nnw.fm/BrSjm). Many people remain unvaccinated and for anyone who contracts any viral disease including common influenza, drug treatment options can be the difference between life and death.
Pharmaceutical technology innovator Lexaria Bioscience (NASDAQ: LEXX) announced success in the latest developmental step that may help antiviral medicines used to treat COVID or HIV/AIDS reach the bloodstream more effectively than ever.
Lexaria announced July 15 that its antiviral drug molecular characterization study performed by the National Research Council (“NRC”), Canada’s premier federally funded research organization, has successfully demonstrated that Lexaria’s trademarked DehydraTECH platform does not create a covalently bonded new molecular entity (“NME”) when used to process select antiviral drugs. (https://nnw.fm/bkfQS).
The results confirmed that the drugs tested remained stable and did not undergo changes in chemical structure when processed with DehydraTECH. This could preserve the ability of this drug delivery platform to qualify for accelerated regulatory filings with the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) in the United States plus regulators elsewhere in the world.
DehydraTECH was tested in conjunction with market-available antiviral drugs remdesivir, ebastine, bepridil, rupintrivir and colchicine, which are being investigate for possible use against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The virus’ aggressive spread has been the root cause of the pandemic that has sickened some 192 million people and killed more than 4 million of them worldwide during the past year (https://nnw.fm/ncN8g).
The potential for more rapid market authorizations of DehydraTECH provides the potential for cost savings to the healthcare system to try to deliver antiviral drugs more effectively if it can be delivered via an oral capsule instead of by injection.
“We are looking at repurposing some of these drugs, being able to take an antiviral drug that traditionally could only be administered, for example, by injection. We might be able to apply it in an oral form through a pill,” Lexaria CEO Chris Bunka told Investing News Network (https://nnw.fm/RFz0u).
Delivering the medications in the form of a pill instead of a shot could help governments or health insurance companies save billions of dollars in administration costs alone.
In December, the company announced the current stage of R&D for drugs known to target the main protease associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, using male Sprague-Dawley rats to quantify and compare total drug delivery into the rodent bloodstream to control formulations (https://nnw.fm/i9B8t).
“We are excited to work with remdesivir, one of the world’s leading drugs currently in use for treatment of COVID-19, to learn whether DehydraTECH may also enhance drug delivery characteristics of NtRTI’s,” Bunka said at the time.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.LexariaBioscience.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to LEXX are available in the company’s newsroom at https://nnw.fm/LEXX
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