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- Oncology company PharmAust (PAA) has seen positive early results with its monepantel treatment, which it is using to try to find a cure for COVID-19
- The company said monepantel treatment reduced the coronavirus’ replication and infectivity in tissue culture
- In the monepantel preliminary experiments, both infectivity and replication of the COVID-19 virus particles was proven to be suppressed by 50 per cent – 95 per cent in cell cultures
- Based on these positive results, PharmAust is now filing a patent application, which will specifically cover monepantel in the treatment of COVID-19
- PharmAust is up almost 20 per cent on the market this morning, selling shares for 12 cents each
Oncology company PharmAust (PAA) has seen positive early results with its monepantel treatment, which is it using to find a cure for COVID-19.
In April, the company announced it was joining the race to find the cure for the coronavirus.
Already, PharmAust has reported results from its findings. The company found monepantel treatment reduced the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) replication and infectivity in tissue culture. SARS-CoV-2 is the strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
The results come from testing done by Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research virologists in Melbourne.
The virologists found that in preliminary experiments, both the infectivity and replication of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles could be suppressed by 50 per cent – 95 per cent in cell cultures after being treated with monepantel.
“These early signs demonstrating that monepantel can block SARS-CoV-2 infectivity in vitro are encouraging,” Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researcher Professor Marc Pellegrini said.
PharmAust’s Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Richard Mollard, is pleased with these results.
“PharmAust is excited by this early data set and is looking forward to continuing the project with the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute,” Dr Richard said.
“Continuation will involve repetition of these experiments for validation and comparisons with other mTOR inhibitors and treatments currently in the clinic,” he added.
Based on these results, the company will broaden and extend its Intellectual Property in the area of antiviral activity. Specifically, PharmAust is filing a patent application to cover monepantel in the treatment of COVID-19.
PharmAust is up 18.56 per cent on the market this morning, selling shares for 12 cents each at 11:39 am AEST.
