A scientific team based out of St Andrews University has hailed initial tests into anti-viral drugs which could stop Covid-19 in its tracks.
Pneumagen Ltd, a St Andrews-based the company behind the results, will now seek funding for further clinical trials on drugs which would prevent the spread of coronavirus currently keeping the country on lockdown.
The successful studies involved both treating infection and blocking new infections.
Working with Public Health England’s Porton facility and Glasgow University’s MRC Centre for Virus Research, Pneumagen has tested the activity of its mCBMs against coronaviruses, using plaque reduction assays.
Douglas Thomson, CEO of Pneumagen, said: “Today’s positive results from in vitro studies of our mCBMs against coronaviruses show that glycan binding has the potential to prevent and treat infection.
“This further supports the value of our universal therapeutic modality to block access to lung cells of SARS-CoV-2, as well as other viruses, that cause respiratory tract infections, providing the potential for a pan-viral respiratory product.
“Our goal is now to rapidly begin clinical testing for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.”
