SpectrumX Holdings Ltd has revealed lab tests results have shown its inhaled Covid treatment to be efficacious against the virus and its mutations, including the now-dominant delta variant.
The results have added significance as the delta variant accounts for 99% of infections in the UK, with Public Health England reporting last Friday that coronavirus levels in people with the Delta variant are similar regardless of whether they have been vaccinated or not.
SpectrumX’s trial data shows that its SPC-069 therapeutic is 100% effective at deactivating wildtype, alpha variant and delta variant forms of COVID-19.
Additional testing is ongoing with results expected within the next two weeks but crucially the drug has already been shown to be safe for use on human tissue in cytotoxicity testing.
“These data are excellent news for the company, we have known for some time that due to the unique mode of action of our HOCl, that current and future variants would be able to be eradicated using SPC-069,” said Damien Hancox, SpectrumX’s chief executive.
The in-vitro results will provide the world-renowned team at University Hospital Innsbruck, who are carrying out the SPC-069 trial, extreme confidence ahead of an imminent Phase II clinical trial.
Some 240 patients will take part in the Phase II double-blind placebo-controlled evaluation of the potential breakthrough in the fight against COVID-19.
A positive outcome from the study will lead to Emergency Use Authorisation applications to both the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency here in the UK and the European Medicines Agency, SpectrumX said.
SPC-069’s active ingredient is hypochlorous acid (HOCl), a chemical naturally produced by the human body’s white blood cells to fight infection within the body.
SpectrumX’s US partner is the first in the world to have developed a stable formula of HOCl that does not degrade when in contact with other substances such as blood or saliva.
Using this formula, SPC-069 has a non-selective mode of action, which means the drug works on any infection and doesn’t need to identify the protein spikes of the virus to work.
What’s more, the company believes that this mode of action will allow for the drug to be utilised in hospital and home settings of people who have tested positive for coronavirus, meaning it could ultimately be used as a daily preventative to dramatically reduce the effects of COVID-19 on society.
In theory it should be effective against all current and future variants of the virus. Additional clinical studies are also planned with Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for efficacy against all other (non-COVID) bacterial and viral infections including influenza and pneumonia.
To learn more about the company’s pre-IPO funding round, click here
“Concern has been growing over the highly transmissible delta variant which is fuelling a spike in infection numbers globally,” said CEO Hancox.
“This has led some experts to advise governments around the world to look at efficacious treatments in the event of a variant which vaccines may be ineffective against”.
The formulations of HOCl developed by SpectrumX’s US partner are the first in the world to be patent-protectable, which the pair said enables the commercialisation of drugs based on the formula to move forward at a rapid pace.
SpectrumX recently announced that they have started construction of a manufacturing plant in north-west England that will serve the UK and EU markets.
Submissions have also been made to the recently formed UK Antivirals Taskforce which is looking to evaluate and roll out antivirals for home use by the autumn, aimed at reducing isolation times for people who have tested positive for COVID-19.
The success of this initiative could be game-changing for an economy dealing with a significant drain on resources due to the ‘pingdemic’, which has seen upwards of 600,000 people being told to isolate per week in July.
SpectrumX’s is carrying out a pre-IPO fundraising to support additional trial of SPC-069 against other respiratory infections along with the roll-out of Spectricept, an alcohol-free sanitiser based around its HOCl technology.
Last week SpectrumX signed a lease in Knutsford, Cheshire, from where it will manufacture Spectricept and a “range of other innovative pharmaceutical and cosmetic products”.
It is one of the few UK companies supplying alcohol-free sanitisers to the NHS, and it is at the forefront in lobbying the government to endorse non-alcohol products, especially in schools.
To learn more about the company’s pre-IPO funding round, click here