Australian clinical-stage drug development company Noxopharm (ASX:NOX) has reported preclinical data that further supports the role of experimental anti-cancer drug, idronoxil, the active ingredient in Veyonda®, as an anti-inflammatory drug for early-stage COVID-19 treatments. A recent preclinical trial, conducted in partnership with Australia’s Hudson Institute of Medical Research (Hudson Institute), has identified that idronoxil inhibits the enzyme, TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1), an action that potentially dampens the inflammatory response causing the progression of COVID-19 disease from mild-to-severe, but not compromising the body’s ability to fight the virus.
These preclinical findings support preliminary top-line positive results the company shared earlier from its NOXCOVID Phase I clinical trial, which tested the suitability of idronoxil (Veyonda) as an effective anti-inflammatory in patients hospitalized with moderate COVID-19 disease. One particular relevance of TBK1 as a drug target is its role in responding to infections from RNA viruses including the respiratory RNA viruses - coronaviruses, influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus.
Associate Professor Michael Gantier, Head of the Nucleic Acids and Innate Immunity Laboratory at Hudson Institute said: “TBK1 is a point of convergence of many inflammatory pathways, and a target under significant investigation by several big pharmaceutical companies. Our latest findings, which are being prepared for publication, demonstrate that idronoxil may have applications in a range of diseases where TBK1 facilitates aberrant inflammation. Critically, TBK1 also directly controls production of interferon-beta, a cytokine associated with long-COVID symptoms. This suggests that idronoxil may not only be useful to prevent progression of COVID-19 patients from mild to severe disease, but also may decrease the risk of long-lasting post-infectious symptoms, seen in up to half of COVID-19 patients.”
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