BioSig Technologies (NSDQ:BSGM) announced today that it is beginning a Phase II clinical trial at Mayo Clinic for Vicromax as a treatment for COVID-19.
ViralClear Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of BioSig, updated its clinical development program for the Vicromax treatment which is slated to be used in a trial under Dr. Andrew Badley, the professor and chair of Mayo Clinic’s department of molecular medicine and enterprise chair of its COVID-19 task force.
Vicromax is an antiviral candidate also known as merimepodib (MMPD), designed to target RNA-dependent polymerases. Safety data from over 300 patients treated for hepatitis C revealed satisfactory results from the treatment, according to a news release. A recent manuscript titled “The IMPDH inhibitor merimepodib suppresses SARS-COV-2 replications” demonstrated decreased viral production at a rate of more than 98% with MMPD.
The Phase II clinical trial is set to be a randomized, placebo-controlled study. ViralClear and May Clinic anticipate data from the trial within three months.
“Evaluating efficacy of Vicromax ™ (MMPD) in patients is a top priority, and we are pleased that Mayo Clinic agreed to work with us on this critically important mission,” BioSig chairman & CEO Kenneth Londoner said in the release.
“Over the past few weeks, we worked very closely with Dr. Badley to understand the optimal mechanism of a trial which would not be disruptive to those on the frontline of the pandemic and would allow the industry to generate clinically relevant data,” ViralClear executive chairman Dr. Jerome Zeldis added. “We are optimistic that Vicromax as a host-directed therapy will become a significant tool within the multi-faceted and rapidly-evolving COVID-19 standard of care.”
The Phase II trial will be the latest in pursuit of coronavirus treatments, after Bausch Health (NYSE:BHC), Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) and Care Access Research, all announced clinical testing of coronavirus therapies recently.
Filed Under: clinical trials, Drug Discovery, Drug Discovery and Development, Infectious Disease
