BetterLife Pharma encouraged by results of UK biotech's trial of interferon inhalation treatment for coronavirus

Tuesday, 21 July 2020 (2 hours ago)
BetterLife Pharma Inc (OTCQB:BETRF) (CSE:BETR) has hailed the positive results from a clinical trial by a UK biotech, which suggested that an interferon inhalation treatment for coronavirus (COVID-19) reduces the need for intensive care. Data from the Synairgen PLC (LON:SNG) trial showed that people who received SNG001, an inhaled formulation of interferon beta, had a 79% lower risk of developing severe coronavirus disease compared to those given the placebo. READ: Synairgen rockets as trial results could signal "major breakthrough" in treatment of severely ill COVID-19 patients They were also more than twice as likely to recover from the illness than those receiving the substance with no therapeutic value. The treatment was delivered through a nebulizer and inhaled directly into the lungs of patients with coronavirus, noted BetterLife in a statement on Tuesday. BetterLife is an advocate of using interferons to treat coronavirus, particularly delivered by an inhalation device. It is aiming to carry out a clinical trial this summer to test an inhalation device to treat patients afflicted with the virus and hopes the nebulizer, along with its patent-pending interferon alpha2b drug, called AP-003, will help patients. The treatment in the Synairgen study used interferon beta, as opposed to the alpha 2b (IFN-a2b) treatment developed by the company. "We are encouraged by the positive results from this trial as it further confirms the proof of concept of anti-COVID treatment via IFN inhalation," Ahmad Doroudian, the chief executive officer of BetterLife said in the statement. "We look forward to our proposed 150 patient clinical trials using AP-003 (inhaled IFN alpha 2b) in COVID-19 patients." He added: "BetterLife’s team believes that the isoform-free IFN alpha2b will provide a potentially superior treatment regimen for Covid-19 patients, as IFN-a2b has already been used to successfully treat other viral infections such as HCV and HBV." Contact the author at [email protected]

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