Pharnext
Pharnext Announces Identification of a Large Set of Frequently Prescribed Drugs to
be Repurposed for Fighting COVID-19, Using its PleotherapyTM Platform
23-March-2020 / 07:30 CET/CEST
Dissemination of a French Regulatory News, transmitted by EQS Group.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
*Pharnext Announces Identification of a Large Set of Frequently Prescribed Drugs
to be Repurposed for Fighting COVID-19, Using its Pleotherapy**TM** Platform*
*-*_A __novel __strategy to __rapidly__ reposition drugs __using __existing
COVID__-__19 clinical data- _
_- Methods, findings and proposals from Pharnext are available at Preprints.org
(_https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202003.0302/v1 [1]_) and awaiting peer
review -_
*PARIS, France,** 7**:30am**, **March 23**, 2020 (CET) - *Pharnext [2] SA
(FR0011191287 - ALPHA), a biopharmaceutical company pioneering a new approach to
developing innovative drug combinations based on big genomic data and artificial
intelligence, today announced the identification of 97 frequently prescribed drugs
as potential candidates to be repositioned for treating COVID-19 through the use
of its Pleotherapy platform.
In a pandemic emergency situation, the repurposing of already-known drugs is a
method of choice prior to vaccine development. Various drug repositioning efforts
are ongoing worldwide. However, the understanding of COVID-19, a disease that
emerged less than four months ago, is highly limited. To respond to the urgency,
especially as it may take up to a year before a vaccine is available to patients,
Pharnext applied an original strategy based on its experience in complex disease
mechanisms and bioinformatics methods in order to find drugs to modify the disease
more immediately.
Once a virus enters human cells, it utilizes the cellular machinery to its
advantage, allowing the virus to proliferate within the human host. Pharnext's
strategy was to evaluate which part of this machinery is affected by coronaviruses
(e.g., COVID-19, SARS, MERS). This allowed the Company to identify already
approved drugs for common diseases, which can also potentially impair the
COVID-19-related viral process. In total, Pharnext identified 97 candidate drugs,
most of which are not known to have antiviral activities. In addition, four of the
drugs Pharnext identified using its methodology are already undergoing clinical
trials for COVID-19, including chloroquine.
A large group of the identified repositioning candidate drugs were originally
developed and used for frequent medical conditions such as type 2 diabetes and
hypertension. It happens that the individuals suffering from these diseases have
some of the highest risks to evolve towards severe forms of COVID-19. This
suggests, besides multiple potential reasons linking these pathologies and an
outcome of COVID-19 infection, a biological link between these common diseases,
sensitivity to COVID-19 and the drugs Pharnext has identified.
Pharnext's strategy of focusing on already approved drugs for common diseases as
repositioning candidates (e.g., statins, anti-diabetic and anti-hypertensive
drugs) results in two significant advantages:
1) Quickly prioritizes the best candidates by comparing COVID-19 evolution among
patients taking these drugs vs. patients not taking these drugs, through big
data analysis of medical records ("real-world evidence" testing), to rapidly
launch launch further confirmatory studies.
2) Provide to the population: The rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus calls for a
rapid response. Once proven effective, the top candidates could be made
immediately available as they are already produced to treat common diseases.
"_Pharnext is dedicated to identifying potential drugs that may be repurposed to
treat COVID-19,_" *said Daniel Cohen, M.D., Ph.D., co-founder and Chief Executive
Officer of Pharnext*. "_From our Pleotherapy approach, which can be applied to any
disease, Pharnext has conceived a method __enabling a rapid drug repositioning to
fight COVID-19._ A coordinated international effort is urgently needed to
mutualize i) comprehensive COVID-19 patient data and ii) confined facilities
suited for significant experimental testing. For the sake of patients and our
communities, we hope that the biopharma community and health regulatory agencies
worldwide can work together to find a way for ultra-fast approval tracks for these
and other therapies."
Candidate drugs proposed by Pharnext need to be further tested for confirmation,
as mono- or polytherapy, following two parallel processes for an accelerated
preclinical evaluation and clinical development: 1) standard preclinical disease
models and 2) "real-world evidence" testing, whereby big data from medical records
are used to compare COVID-19 patients, who are already taking these candidate
drugs.[1]
Hydroxychloroquine, Chloroquine and Azythromicine have generated encouraging
results in clinical trials, which have also been identified by Pharnext's
approach.
Pharnext is currently evaluating various options to validate its initial findings
as well as to further advance the work towards a treatment for COVID-19 through
various collaborations.
About COVID-19
COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 (nCoV-2019) virus, a
coronavirus like MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV, which first emerged four months ago in
Asia, and which has infected more than 260,000 individuals and caused more than
11,000 deaths worldwide according to the latest World Health Organization report.
As of today, there are no approved treatments against COVID-19 and vaccines are
still in their early development.
About Pharnext
Pharnext is an advanced clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel
therapeutics for orphan and common neurodegenerative diseases that currently lack
curative and/or disease-modifying treatments. Pharnext has two lead products in
clinical development. PXT3003 completed an international Phase 3 trial with
positive topline results for the treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A
and benefits from orphan drug status in Europe and the United States. PXT864 has
generated encouraging Phase 2 results in Alzheimer's disease. Pharnext has
developed a new drug discovery paradigm based on big genomic data and artificial
intelligence: PLEOTHERAPY. Pharnext identifies and develops synergic
combinations of drugs called PLEODRUG. The Company was founded by renowned
scientists and entrepreneurs, including Professor Daniel Cohen, a pioneer in
modern genomics, and is supported by a world-class scientific team. More
information at www.pharnext.com [3].
Pharnext is listed on the Euronext Growth Stock Exchange in Paris (ISIN code:
FR0011191287).
*Disclaimer*
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Pharnext
and its business. Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that
Pharnext considers to be reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that the
estimates contained in such forward-looking statements will be verified, which
estimates are subject to numerous risks including the risks set forth in
Pharnext's document de base filed with the AMF on June 2, 2016, under number
I.016-0050 as well as in its annual periodic management reports and press releases
(copies of which are available on www.pharnext.com) and to the development of
economic conditions, financial markets and the markets in which Pharnext operates.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to
risks not yet known to Pharnext or not currently considered material by Pharnext.
The occurrence of all or part of such risks could cause actual results, financial
conditions, performance, or achievements of Pharnext to be materially different
from such forward-looking statements. Pharnext disclaims any intention or
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as
a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
This press release and the information that it contains do not constitute an offer
to sell or subscribe for, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe
for, Pharnext shares in any country.
*Contacts*
*Pharnext*
Daniel Cohen
Chief Executive
Officer
contact@pharnext.co
[4]m
+33 (0)1 41 09 22
30
*Media Relations (Europe)* *Financial *Investors**Relations
Ulysse Communication Communication (U.S.)*
Bruno Arabian **(France)* Stern Investor
+33 (0)6 87 88 47 26 Actifin Relations, Inc.
barabian Stéphane Ruiz Jane Urheim
[5]@ulysse-communication.com sruiz@actifin.fr jane.urheim@sternir.com
Pierre-Louis Germain +33 (0)1 56 88 +1 212 362 1200
+33 (0)6 64 79 97 51 11 15
plgermain@ulysse-communication.com
*Media Relations (U.S.) *
Rooney Partners
Kate Barrette
kbarrette@rooneyco.com
+1 212 223 0561
4
[1] _Pharnext emphasizes that the drugs proposed as candidates from its novel
methods and analysis have not yet completed preclinical or clinical testing with
COVID-19 virus, which is needed to confirm efficacy and safety in COVID-19
patients prior to prescription and use._
Regulatory filing PDF file
Document title: Pharnext Announces Identification of a Large Set of Frequently
Prescribed Drugs to be Repurposed for Fighting COVID-19, Using its PleotherapyTM
Platform
Document: https://eqs-cockpit.com/c/fncls.ssp?u=WREMVKDBLW [6]
1003733 23-March-2020 CET/CEST
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 23, 2020 02:30 ET (06:30 GMT)
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