Theralase Technologies Inc (TSX-V:TLT, OTCQB:TLTFF) announced that new research has shown that its lead asset Rudivar has proven effective in the inactivation of various viruses.
The company, which is developing light and/or radiation-activated small molecules, added that when the human coronaviruses was treated with Rudivar, the spike protein remained intact.
This suggests that the inactivation of coronaviruses by Rudivar may be used as a vaccine, according to Theralase.
The research, accepted in a peer-reviewed publication Heliyon, was completed at the laboratory of Dr Kevin Coombs at the University of Manitoba, in partnership with the company and the National Microbiology Laboratory.
Dr Coombs expressed his excitement over the results, adding that he believes that Ruvidar has the potential to be effective as a broad-spectrum viral vaccine able to mitigate the biothreat of various emerging infectious disease pathogens.
“In our research, we found that nanomolar and micromolar concentrations of Ruvidar were all that was required in order to inactivate 90 to 99.9% of all seven viruses that we tested, including H1N1 influenza virus, coronavirus, Zika virus, poxvirus and herpes virus. In fact, Ruvidar at 3 mM completely killed the herpes virus,” he said.
"We have worked with several anti-viral compounds over the years and have found that Ruvidar is far more potent than any of the others we have worked with. In fact, Ruvidar is effective at concentrations approximately 100-fold lower than those we have previously tested.”
Based on this latest research, the company said it has gained consensus from the National Microbiology Laboratory to direct its research away from the COVID-19 virus vaccine to develop this technology for an avian influenza vaccine.
The Theralase lab in Toronto will focus on using Ruvidar to research and develop a topical therapeutic to mitigate the impact of herpes virus lesions.
“This publication substantiates the years of work that the team has undertaken to demonstrate that Ruvidar is an effective technology to inactivate numerous viruses both with and without the presence of light and can be used as a strong antiviral platform in the production of vaccines in the near future, subject to completion of animal and toxicology testing,” said Dr Arkady Mandel, Theralase’s chief scientific officer.
Investors welcomed the news, sending shares of Theralase more than 17.2% higher to C$0.17 in early trade on Tuesday.