Synairgen PLC (LON:SNG) chief executive Richard Marsden said he was “delighted by the findings” from a phase II study of 221 hospitalised and home-based Covid patients.
The data pointed to the potential efficacy of its inhaled interferon-beta treatment in those with severe illness.
Specifically, researchers found there was a greater than threefold likelihood of recovery to 'no limitation of activities' in the markedly/severely breathless population taking Synairgen’s SNG001 compared to those on a placebo with no medical benefit.
The team overseeing the SG016 phase II trial found the degree of breathlessness at the start of the illness to be a good predictor of who would benefit from an immune boost from the drug.
CEO Marsden said of the read-out: “It increases our conviction in the approach we have taken to conduct an international phase III trial in hospitalised patients requiring supplemental oxygen, which is scheduled to read out in the second half of this year.”
Tom Wilkinson, Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Southampton, said the SG016 trial had been “very successful”.
“Although the vast majority of non-hospitalised patients had very mild symptoms, the effects of SNG001 on the small group of markedly and severely breathless patients indicated who might be benefitting most from SNG001,” he added.
“Assessment of breathlessness as a predictor of protracted recovery in the combined home and hospital cohorts showed us that non-breathless patients have no need for the innate immune response boost that interferon-beta provides, whereas the patients who were breathless derive strong benefit from SNG001.
“This tells us that we should target SNG001 at COVID-19 patients with marked or severe breathlessness where it has a potentially significant benefit."