BetterLife Pharma Inc (CSE:BETR, OTCQB:BETRF) announced that its subsidiary Altum Pharmaceuticals Inc and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile have successfully completed the Phase 1 portion of Phase 1-2 randomized placebo-controlled trial (IN2COVID) in coronavirus patients with the company’s inhaled interferon alpha-2b product, AP-003.
The Vancouver, British Columbia-based company said that 18 healthy individuals were enrolled in the Phase 1 portion of the IN2COVID trial.
AP-003 demonstrated excellent safety and tolerability profile and no serious adverse events were observed, the company added.
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“I am confident that inhaled administration of interferon alpha-2b, AP-003 will prove to be an effective treatment against COVID-19. With increasing numbers of breakthrough infections in vaccinated individuals and the emergence of variants of concern such as Omicron, it is imperative that we have therapeutics to accelerate viral clearance in infected individuals, to avoid hospitalization, severe disease, and to limit outbreaks,” said Eleanor Fish, one of the principal investigators of the trial.
Fish added: “With AP-003, there is the added advantage of a ‘pathogen agnostic’ broad-spectrum antiviral that may have therapeutic benefits for many respiratory virus infections. And an antiviral drug that the virus cannot become resistant to.”
BetterLife has begun Phase 2 clinical trials using AP-003 after the success of its Phase 1 portion of the trial.
"We are pleased to start the Phase 2 clinical trials using AP-003 in COVID-19 patients in collaboration with the Escuela de Medicina at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile,” said BetterLife’s CEO Ahmad Doroudian.
He noted that since interferon alpha-2b is a broad-acting antiviral agent, “we believe BetterLife’s AP-003 will potentially be a very effective treatment against SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern, such as the newly emerging Omicron strain”.
BetterLife is an emerging biotechnology company engaged in the development and commercialization of next-generation psychedelic products for the treatment of mental disorders.
Utilizing drug delivery platform technologies, BetterLife is also refining and developing drug candidates from a broad set of complementary interferon-based technologies which have the potential to engage the immune system to fight virus infections, such as coronavirus disease and human papillomavirus.
Contact Ritika at ritika@proactiveinvestors.com