Sound Pharmaceuticals is all set to launch two Phase II clinical trials of an oral capsule, SPI-1005, for treating patients with moderate or severe Covid-19.
Developed for various neurotologic, neuropsychiatric, and respiratory indications, SPI-1005 is a capsule with a small molecule called ebselen.
The latest development comes after Sound Pharmaceuticals received a Cooperative Grant award worth $3.1m from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) unit National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) for evaluating SPI-1005.
“To our knowledge, these are the first Phase II studies of an Mpro or PLpro inhibitor in moderate and severe Covid-19.”
Furthermore, the company will assess whether SPI-1005 can enhance the body’s inflammatory and cellular immune response to Covid-19.
In a separate development, Moleculin Biotech and IQVIA Biotech are set to initiate potential clinical trials of the former’s drug, WP1122, for treating Covid-19.
