NanoViricides says oral FluCide candidate effective in animal study

NanoViricides (OTCBB:NNVC) said today that one of its anti-flu drug candidates under its FluCide program has proven to be effective in an animal study when given orally.
The drug showed "very strong efficacy" in combatting H1N1 infection in mice, according to the company, which makes nanoviricide drugs designed to attack enveloped particles in a number of viral diseases and dismantle them.
The company said it received the information about the drug's performance from the contract lab that performed the studies, Kard Scientific.
NanoViricides is awaiting data from the studies, and plans to release more information once data is analyzed.
"We are pleasantly surprised that the modifications that we have been studying for the development of a nanoviricide that can be orally effective have indeed succeeded," said president of the company, Anil R. Diwan, PhD.
"Molecules that nanomedicines are comprised of are notoriously difficult to develop into orally available drugs. This is indeed a coup for our nanomedicine technologies."
NanoViricides has been working on the development of an orally available nanoviricide for several years. The essential chemistries were finally worked out during the chemistry, manufacturing and controls studies for its current Flucide drug candidate.
Further development has now led to a completed definitive animal model study, the company said, to determine whether one of the FluCide anti-flu candidates was effective when administered orally.
Until data are received from the double blind study, the identity of the FluCide drug candidates that were orally active will not be known.
The company said it expects more data from various analyses over the next several weeks.
"We are very excited by the success of this oral administration study and look forward to the data," said chief scientific officer of NanoViricides, Randall W. Barton, adding "an orally available FluCide will have a significant impact on our anti-influenza program."
Indeed, an oral drug to combat the flu will be desirable for treating out-patients, and will complement the company's proposed IV "piggy-back" therapy for the critically ill hospitalized patients, said CEO Eugene Seymour.
"This [oral] administration route enables quick and strong response," he said.
Last month, the company retained Australian Biologics, a regulatory affairs consulting firm, to coordinate the regulatory review and approval for the first human trials in Australia for Flucide.
Drugs are currently being developed by the company against viral diseases such as H1N1 swine flu, H5N1 bird flu, seasonal Influenza, HIV, oral and genital Herpes, and other viral diseases.
The company now has five drug development programs within its pipeline, including FluCide, a drug that works against all forms of influenza such as seasonal and epidemic flus, and HIVCide, a drug that works against the HIV/AIDS virus, which the company says could become a "functional cure" for the disease.