NanoViricides (NYSE-A:NNVC) CEO Anil Diwan joined Proactive to discuss the promise of its lead drug NV-387 as a broad-spectrum antiviral.
Diwan explained that NV-387, a host mimetic drug, works differently from traditional antiviral treatments by mimicking a natural cellular feature, making it difficult for viruses to escape.
He highlighted successful preclinical and early clinical results, noting the drug's effectiveness against viruses like RSV, influenza, and more recently, monkeypox (MPOX).
Proactive: Really interesting news out from the World Health Organization about monkeypox. We'll talk about that in just a second. But this relates to your drug NV-387. Let's remind everyone a little bit about that drug and the fact that it has multiple potential uses.
Anil Diwan: Right. NV-387 is a host mimetic, which means it copies certain features of your body's cells. Because of this, viruses cannot escape it. That's how the drug was developed, and it’s very different from other modalities for attacking viruses, such as vaccines, antibodies, or small chemicals, which all eventually become ineffective because the virus mutates. With NV-387, that's highly unlikely. It was designed to be broad-spectrum by copying a feature called sulfate, which is used by over 90% of viruses for initial attachment to cells. This means NV-387 could potentially affect a large portion of human viruses, although we may not be clinically effective against all of them.
So, you've tested it against several viruses?
Yes, we tested it against coronaviruses and successfully completed phase one in healthy subjects. We've also tested against RSV, where we actually cured it in mice—something no other drug has done. For influenza, NV-387 was substantially superior to the three main drugs in the industry. We also tested it against MPOX in 2022 during the global epidemic.
How did it perform in those tests?
We developed two animal models for MPOX. One was dermal abrasion, which is how MPOX is typically transmitted, and the other was direct lung infection, relevant to bioterrorism scenarios, which are of interest to US agencies. In both models, NV-387 was at least as good as Tecovirimat, the currently stockpiled drug.
You mentioned that you completed a Phase 1 trial. Where does that place you in terms of the current outbreak?
We believe NV-387 fulfills the WHO’s MEURI protocol for exploratory medicines. This means we could take it directly into real-world clinical trials during a pandemic or epidemic under specific constraints. We are engaging with regional authorities to explore the possibility of bringing NV-387 into clinical use for MPOX.
So, the next steps would be to meet with local authorities and assess their interest?
Exactly. Tecovirimat has shown limited success, especially against more pathogenic strains of MPOX. Right now, there are no effective treatments for MPOX. NV-387 presents a good opportunity to fill that gap.
Quotes have been edited for clarity and style