PharmaMar’s drug against covid-19 reduces viral load almost completely

Aplidin (plitidepsin) has strong antiviral potency, according to ‘Science’

It has an antiviral activity 27.5 times more powerful than remdesivir

The shares of the biotech company skyrocketed 21.14% on Tuesday, January 26th.

The drug developed by PharmaMar against covid-19, Aplidin (plitidepsin), has in vitro one strong antiviral potency with limited toxicity , in comparison with other antivirals SARS-CoV-2. 

This has been published by the scientific journal Science in an article that the company itself has sent this Tuesday to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). The shares of the biotech company have picked up the news with rises of up to 26%, reaching the highest prices since November. At the close, the rebound was 21.14% to 106.3 euros per share.

The specialized publication states that in tests carried out with animals infected with SARS-CoV-2, plitidepsin almost totally decreased (99%) the viral load in the lungs.

Likewise, Science highlights in its article that the doses of toxicity (a factor that always worries when studying any antiviral) well tolerated in the clinical trial with Aplidin are significantly lower than those used in other experiments.

The magazine also indicates that PharmaMar’s drug “has antiviral activity 27.5 times more potent than remdesivir “, the only antiviral approved so far to treat the coronavirus.

Thus, Science concludes (based on its animal trial data and PharmaMar clinical trial results ) that “plitidepsin should be seriously considered to expand clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19.”

Science research paper titled ” Plitidepsin has potent preclinical efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 by targeting the host protein eEF1A “  (Plitidepsin has potent preclinical efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 by targeting the host protein eEF1A) , is the result of the collaboration between PharmaMar and the laboratories of Kris White, Adolfo García-Sastre and Thomas Zwaka, in the Departments of Microbiology and Cellular, Regenerative and Developmental Biology, at the Icahn School of Medicine; by Kevan Shokat and Nevan Krogan, at the Institute of Quantitative Biosciences at the University of California San Francisco, and by Marco Vignuzzi at the Pasteur Institute in Paris.

Waiting for the ‘go-ahead’ for phase III

The Science article is a boost for PharmaMar, which since mid-October has been negotiating with different regulatory bodies the start of phase III (or final) trials with Aplidin.

More than three months ago, the Spanish biotechnology company announced that phase II (or intermediate) of the clinical trial with the drug gave “positive results.” Something that he underlined in mid-November, when, in response to a request from the CNMV, he defended that aplidin produces “a notable reduction in the viral load” of the new coronavirus.

On the other hand, the trials have not progressed since then, waiting for the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) to give ‘the green light’ to start phase III. 

Two weeks ago, PharmaMar informed that they “are working” to carry out the last stage of the study and insisted that it “will be carried out”, although they did not provide a specific date.

Source:  Science

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