Candidate: nanoFenretinide (ST-001)
Type: Nanoparticle sized fenretinide API utilizing a proprietary phospholipid drug delivery system.
Status: Repurposed oncology drug with published antiviral activity against MERS-CoV-2, Dengue, Zika, West Nile, HIV, and HCV viruses. ST-001 nanoFenretinide recently demonstrated inhibitory effects on SARS-CoV-2 virus replication in cell culture. SciTech has submitted an expedited COVID-19 pre-IND application (PIND No. 150066) to the U.S. FDA that cross-references the company’s already FDA approved IND No. 135475 for nanoFenretinide treatment of a cancer indication cleared to enter clinical trials for T-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NCT04234048).
The initial phase of the trial is expected to be completed in nine to 10 weeks once it is approved, SciTech chief medical officer Brian Leyland-Jones told the Detroit Free Press. He said nanoFenretinide can help suppress inflammation and the body’s reaction to the virus that triggers fever and chills: “I do not think that this is going to be curative, but I think it would be adjunctive to every other treatment out there because of its efficacy and low toxicity.”
COVID-19: 200 Candidates and Counting
To navigate through the >200 potential therapeutic and vaccine options for COVID-19, GEN has grouped the candidates into four broad categories based on their developmental and (where applicable) clinical progress:
● FRONT RUNNER – the most promising therapeutics/vaccines based on clinical progress, favorable data or both.
● DEFINITELY MAYBE – earlier phases with promising partners, or more advanced candidates in development that have generated uneven data.
● KEEPING AN EYE ON… – interesting technology, attracting notable partners, or both, but preliminary data.
● TOO SOON TO TELL – longshots pending additional experimental and/or clinical data.
GEN has also tagged the most common treatment types:
● ANTIVIRAL
● VAX
● ANTIBODY
● RNA
