Cellivery "COVID-19 Therapeutic Drug Demonstrates Efficacy in US Primate Trials"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Cellivery announced on the 25th that its anti-inflammatory drug 'iCP-NI', being developed as a treatment for severe sepsis by suppressing cytokine storms, has successfully demonstrated therapeutic efficacy in non-human primates infected with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The therapeutic efficacy evaluation tests of iCP-NI on non-human primates, conducted by the US contract research organization (CRO) Southern Research, are being carried out in three phases: first, second, and third.

According to the results of the second test, the oxygen saturation of monkeys, which was 95% before coronavirus infection, decreased to 70% 48 hours after infection. However, the oxygen saturation of the experimental subjects administered with iCP-NI maintained a normal level, increasing from 95% before infection to 96%. The company explained that this indicates a 104% therapeutic effect compared to the infected group.

The normal oxygen saturation level is above 95%, and below 80% indicates a very severe hypoxemia state. The 70% oxygen saturation at 48 hours post-virus administration in subjects not given iCP-NI is explained to be at a level that could lead to death from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Dr. Jennifer Pickens, the lead researcher of this test, stated, "The respiratory rate per minute of monkeys infected with the COVID-19 virus increased threefold from 16 to 48, causing rapid breathing and respiratory distress, whereas monkeys administered with iCP-NI maintained a good condition with about 20 breaths per minute," adding, "This is very important evidence proving the therapeutic efficacy against the respiratory infectious disease COVID-19."

CEO Daewoong Cho said, "Detailed analyses on whether the degree of lung inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis, which destroy lung tissue causing permanent lung damage, the level of cytokine storms in the blood, and the virus count are reduced are currently underway in the United States," and added, "We have already confirmed in the first experiment that the concentration of inflammatory cytokines peaks 48 hours after infection."

He emphasized, "Combining the safety evaluation test results conducted at Covance (Somerset, USA), a professional contract toxicology testing organization in the US, we will apply for and obtain clinical trial approval (IND) from the US FDA for COVID-19 patients," and stressed, "We are doing our best to directly administer iCP-NI, a powerful anti-inflammatory agent that suppresses the production of all inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, aiming for clinical and therapeutic use approval in the shortest possible time for a large number of patients."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.