NanoViricides (NYSE-A:NNVC) said on Wednesday it is moving forward with trials of its antiviral drug NV-387 to combat a growing number of viral threats, including measles and MPox, amid rising concern over vaccine failure and the lack of effective treatments.
The Shelton, Connecticut-based company said it has initiated animal efficacy studies to evaluate NV-387 as a treatment for measles, noting there are currently no approved antiviral drugs for the disease.
Measles cases have surpassed 1,000 in the United States this year, while Europe reported more than 35,000 cases in 2024 — a ten-fold increase from the prior year, according to the US CDC and ECDC.
NanoViricides also said it plans to make NV-387 available to physicians treating Measles under the FDA’s Individual Patient Expanded Access program.
The drug candidate, described as a broad-spectrum, host-mimetic nanomedicine, is being developed to address viruses that lack available treatments.
Separately, NanoViricides said it is advancing a Phase II clinical trial application for NV-387 to treat MPox in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the disease remains endemic. The country’s National Ethics Committee has cleared the drug for trial, the company said.
The World Health Organization reaffirmed in April that MPox remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The more dangerous Clade 1a and 1b variants — which are highly transmissible — continue to drive infections in Africa and pose a risk of wider global spread.
NanoViricides is also developing NV-387 as an empiric treatment for respiratory viral infections in a “basket-type” trial, targeting influenza, coronaviruses, and RSV. Such a protocol would allow physicians to treat suspected viral infections without waiting for test results.
The company’s pipeline includes NV-HHV-1, a pan-herpesvirus drug candidate targeting herpes-related neurological complications, including those linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
“NV-387 is a revolutionary antiviral drug that can combat many viral infections,” said Anil R. Diwan, president and executive chairman of NanoViricides. “We believe our MPox and Measles work will enable rapid advancement of the drug and make a great global impact in large markets fulfilling unmet medical needs.”