Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (Nasdaq:LEXX) (Nasdaq:LEXXW) (CNSX:LXX.CN) (the “Company” or “Lexaria”), a global innovator in drug delivery platforms, announces that remdesivir and ebastine processed with DehydraTECH were effective at inhibiting the COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 virus using an in vitro screening assay in infected cells in Lexaria study VIRAL-C21-3.
“The main purpose of the study was to confirm that Lexaria’s DehydraTECH formulation and processing methodology did not negate the known antiviral efficacy of these compounds before proceeding to larger, planned in vivo efficacy testing, said Chris Bunka, CEO of Lexaria Bioscience Corp. “These preliminary findings evidenced SARS-CoV-2 inhibitory performance commensurate with our expectations warranting ongoing and further investigation in animal testing.”
This study used one of the most widely applied and informative predictive measures of drug efficacy to measure the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (“IC50”) of the drugs when formulated with DehydraTECH. This was an important step towards advancing to animal and ultimately human efficacy testing for the purpose of using DehydraTECH-processed drugs to treat COVID-19.
This study was performed using a primate cell line, VERO-E6, and conducted by a leading independent, US biosafety level 3 testing laboratory that delivers critical services to government and commercial customers. That third party laboratory was responsible for study administration, quality control, and generation of results. Lexaria President John Docherty, Head of R&D, has verified the information within this press release.
Lexaria’s antiviral study program may also have benefits beyond COVID-19, including a wide range of other viral disease indications where improved oral delivery performance is needed. The combined market for antiviral drugs is projected to be over USD $44 billion by 2026.1
Remdesivir and ebastine have each shown promise in the fight against COVID-19. Remdesivir is a well-known nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor, available under the trade name Veklury® from Gilead Sciences Inc., that interferes with the SARS-CoV-2 viral replication life cycle and has received emergency use authorization in many regions of the world for treatment of COVID-192. Ebastine is an antihistamine drug that has potent effects in inhibiting the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro, also called the 3CL protease) blocking viral entry into human cells3, together with effects to reduce COVID-19 in>