NanoViricides (NYSE-A:NNVC) Inc has reported its financial results for the fiscal third quarter that revealed ample cash on hand, giving the company scope to kick off its clinical trials of its broad-spectrum antivirals, including lead COVID drug candidate NV-CoV-2.
Investors reacted to the news sending NanoViricides (NYSE-A:NNVC) shares up nearly 1.8% in morning trade.
The Shelton, Connecticut-based company ended its fiscal 3Q on March 31, 2023, with cash and equivalent assets of $9.9 million. The firm also had $8.6 million in intangible assets and property and equipment assets which included the company’s manufacturing and R&D facility in Shelton.
In contrast, the company said it had total current liabilities of around $0.35 million. The net cash utilized in the nine months from July 1, 2022, was approximately $4.2 million, said the company.
NanoViricides (NYSE-A:NNVC) pointed out that the cash expenditure is expected to increase once clinical trials begin for its flagship NV-CoV-2 drug candidate aimed at treating SARS-CoV-2 infection that causes COVID, along with the repercussions of Long COVID.
On March 27 this year, NanoViricides struck a license agreement with Karveer Meditech Private Limited India. It granted Karveer a limited, non-transferable, exclusive license for the use and sale in India of the company's two clinical test drug candidates — NV-CoV-2 and NV-CoV-2-R — for the treatment of COVID in patients in India.
Starting human trials
The company’s NV-CoV-2 is about to enter Phase Ia/Ib human clinical trials sponsored by the company’s licensee and collaborator Karveer. Two oral formulations, namely NV-CoV-2 oral syrup, and NV-CoV-2 oral gummies will be evaluated in the clinical trial.
On April 12, the US firm shipped its clinical drug products to Karveer and they have been received in good condition, said NanoViricides.
The firm estimates that it has sufficient funds to complete initial human clinical trials for NV-CoV-2, according to a statement.
Both NV-CoV-2 and NV-CoV-2-R have demonstrated pan-coronavirus, broad-spectrum effectiveness in preclinical studies. The broad-spectrum effectiveness is vital, said the company as SARS-CoV-2 variants are continuously manifested.
NanoViricides noted that it has “successfully” developed NV-CoV-2 formulations for different severities of the disease, including NV-CoV-2 oral gummies, the NV-CoV-2 syrup to treat mild-to-moderate cases; and NV-CoV-2 for injection, infusion, or inhalation for serious hospitalized patients.
Separately, the company’s NV-387 drug candidate has been found to have broad spectrum activity against all the tested seasonal coronaviruses in pre-clinical studies.
NanoViricides believes that the active pharma ingredient of NV-CoV-2, namely NV-387, may have “significantly” broader spectrum antiviral effectiveness than the coronavirus family alone, based on its design.
This is because NV-387 was designed to mimic a well-known feature on human cell surfaces, called "sulfated proteoglycans" that a large number of virus families bind to as the first step in infecting a cell, explained the company.
Antibiotics such as penicillin attack the bacterial surface and thereby kill the bacteria. Similarly, NV-387 is designed to attack the viral surface and destroy the virus particle. Similar to broad spectrum antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections, “NV-387 could be a much needed broad-spectrum, direct acting, antiviral agent to treat multiple different viral infections,” said the company.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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