Airway Therapeutics Announces Filing with NIH to Evaluate AT-100 as a Therapy for Novel Coronavirus

Airway Therapeutics, Inc. (Cincinnati, OH, USA), a biopharmaceutical company, has announced a filing with the Respiratory Diseases Branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), to evaluate AT-100 (rhSP-D) as a therapeutic for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Airway is developing a new class of biologics to break the cycle of injury and inflammation for patients with respiratory and inflammatory diseases, beginning with the most vulnerable populations. The company is advancing the novel recombinant human protein rhSP-D, an engineered version of an endogenous protein that reduces inflammation and infection in the body while modulating the immune response. AT-100's anti-inflammatory and anti-infective properties also make it a potential treatment for other respiratory diseases such as influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and inflammatory diseases inside and outside the lung.

AT-100 has the potential to serve as an innovative therapy for the novel coronavirus by targeting critical stages of viral infection through facilitating the binding and clearance of the virus by lung immune cells; regulating the body's immune cells to reduce the overwhelming inflammation that is the primary mechanism of illness in severe viral infections; and inhibiting infectivity and replication for several types of bacteria and viruses, including the primary coronavirus infection and also the secondary bacterial and viral infections that often complicate the care of patients with serious infections

Airway is aiming to enter the clinic later this year with AT-100 as an investigational preventive treatment for the serious respiratory disease bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in very preterm infants.

"Research has demonstrated that rhSP-D plays a key role in the clearance of numerous bacteria and viruses across a range of serious respiratory diseases. As COVID-19 is a novel respiratory virus, it is important to follow the data to understand if AT-100 may be an effective therapeutic with prophylactic potential to reduce infection and inflammation in patients with COVID-19," said Marc Salzberg, M.D., president and CEO of Airway. "The COVID-19 outbreak has illuminated the urgency to identify and explore new therapies for patients in need, and Airway is committed to partnering with the National Institutes of Health to explore and advance AT-100 as a potential therapeutic option."

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