Covid-19 Sverige

Offentlig prosjektsammendrag

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an enveloped RNA virus that can cause severe respiratory disease in humans. The virus is highly contagious and infectious, and the corresponding disease is called COVID-19. The current outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has emerged as a severe global pandemic claiming over one million lives and infecting tens of millions of people. To contain the COVID-19 outbreak an unprecedented worldwide collaborative effort was launched, where new and already approved drugs have been, and still are, being tested. A few vaccines are now approved for use, but since vaccines are not 100% efficacious, and that it will take time to get the vaccines distributed and that there may not be enough vaccines to cover the global population at risk in some time, there is still a need for a treatment option (as well as a potential prophylactic drug). A few treatment options have been tested in clinical trials, but there are significant side effects linked to these, and the effect is also debated. Antiviral peptides have been demonstrated to exert prophylactic and therapeutic effects against coronaviruses, however, their effect on SARS-CoV-2 has not yet been reported. During the autumn of 2020 Pharma Holdings has conducted the “COVID-19 Pre-Clinical” project; an in vitro study to determine the effect of LTX-109 on enveloped viruses, among these the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The efficacy results are compelling and confirm that LTX-109 is virucidal. PH believes that the in vitro results of LTX-109 on SARS-CoV-2 demonstrate a high potential and a need for clinical translation, and that LTX-109 may turn out to be a valuable treatment for COVID-19, and similar respiratory virus infections. The objectives of this project are to demonstrate and validate the clinical efficacy and safety of LTX-109 gel as an innovative anti-viral agent for treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infections.