Local Firm Receives Grant for COVID Research
Sound Pharmaceuticals Inc. recently received Cooperative Grant award from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institute for Health in the amount of $3.1 million to support the testing of SPI-1005 in two Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. SPI-1005 is an oral capsule containing ebselen, a small molecule with novel anti-inflammatory properties being developed for several neurotologic, neuropsychiatric and respiratory indications.
Ebselen was recently shown to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in three separate in vitro studies involving two different cell lines and in vivo in a rodent model of COVID-19. This anti-viral activity is due to the binding and inhibition of two enzymes critical for viral replication in SARS-CoV-2. The anti-inflammatory and anti-viral activity of ebselen, its documented safety, and oral route of administration offer a unique potential as a new therapeutic for the treatment of COVID-19.
- ◦People