Mountain Valley MD Holdings Inc (CSE:MVMD) (OTCQB:MVMDF) announced Monday that it will start testing the South African coronavirus (COVID-19) variant in an upcoming study analyzing viral clearance efficacy with its solubilized Ivermectin technology.
Mountain Valley CEO Dennis Hancock said it was “critical” to look at the new South African variant given the complexities of vaccine rollout and the high probability that current vaccines may not be effective against emerging mutations.
"It is important to us across our broad human health objectives that our solubilized Ivermectin technology can be confidently applied as the broadest COVID-19 therapeutic and number one choice in the world when a vaccine falls short,” Hancock told shareholders in a statement.
READ: Mountain Valley MD inks agreement to begin its coronavirus viral clearance study
Ivermectin is a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved anti-parasitic drug that inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro at concentrations not readily achievable with currently approved doses. It is being investigated as a potential COVID-19 treatment.
Mountain Valley’s patented Quicksol solubilization technology covers all highly solubilized macrocyclic lactones - including the drugs Ivermectin and Selamectin. When applied to Ivermectin, the technology is the only form in the world that uses strictly excipients currently approved by the FDA, making it a leading candidate for human injection and sublingual applications.
First of its kind study
Mountain Valley’s Bio Safety Level 4 (BSL-4) trial will be the first of its kind ever conducted with human-grade solubilized Ivermectin anywhere in the world. The study design was led by the firm’s key scientific advisor, Dr John Clements, emeritus professor of microbiology and immunology at Tulane University School of Medicine. Dr Clements has over 35 years of experience in vaccine, immunology and infectious diseases research and development, with a distinguished scientific career focused on developing and evaluating vaccines for a wide range of infectious diseases globally.
Mike Farber, director of life sciences at Mountain Valley, told investors that it is not clear if the current vaccines will protect from the new variants, with early information suggesting that vaccines are not as effective on the mutations.
“We are attempting in our work with the BSL-4 lab to target novel COVID-19 variants that would prove Ivermectin's broad activity in interfering with the replication of the virus and thus broadly applies across multiple variants versus being specific to a variant the way a vaccine would be," Farber said.
Mountain Valley believes its solubilized Ivermectin could work for a broad therapeutic across a wide range of viruses in the future, not just limited to COVID-19. The firm cautioned that it is not making any express or implied claims that its product has the ability to eliminate, cure or contain the COVID-19 (or SARS-2 coronavirus) at this time.
Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas