Innovation Pharmaceuticals Inc (IPIX)

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Leo is tenacious! Keep it coming Leo - will this be a multiple release week? maybe...

Go Leo & IPIX!

Innovation Pharmaceuticals COVID-19 Clinical Trial to Support Additional Development of Brilacidin as a “Pan-Coronavirus” Therapeutic

Company advancing Brilacidin as a next-generation broad-spectrum antiviral for the treatment of common colds and deadly coronavirus infections

WAKEFIELD, MA – November 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) Innovation Pharmaceuticals (OTCQB:IPIX) (“the Company”), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, today announces additional independent preliminary laboratory research suggests Brilacidin, the Company’s flagship defensin mimetic, has the potential to treat other endemic human coronaviruses (H-CoVs), such as those causing common colds, and not just SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus responsible for the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic.

Research shows Brilacidin exerted potent in vitro inhibition of multiple strains of H-CoVs. On completion of testing, the H-CoV findings are expected to be submitted for peer-review publication. The Company is evaluating these data alongside previously obtained SARS-CoV-2 data, strategizing with its scientific advisors and consultants, to develop Brilacidin as a “pan-coronavirus” therapeutic.

In related news, requisite documentation has been filed with the appropriate regulatory agencies, including an Investigational New Drug application (IND) with the FDA, for conduct of a multinational Phase 2 clinical trial of Brilacidin in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

Innovation Pharmaceuticals believes Brilacidin is a clearly differentiated leading antiviral drug candidate backstopped by a growing library of laboratory data documenting Brilacidin’s potent ability to inhibit coronaviruses, primarily by disrupting viral integrity and blocking viral entry. The Company is planning to conduct additional in vitro and in vivo Brilacidin studies on multiple coronaviruses, to further inform the drug’s anti-coronavirus properties and prepare for potential future clinical testing.

“Given the alarming recent global spike in COVID-19 cases, coupled with a long-term perspective around the possibility of future pandemics, the appetite for novel anti-coronavirus therapeutics remains strong, as evidenced by Merck paying $425 million in cash last week to acquire OncoImmune to bolster its COVID-19 pipeline,” commented Leo Ehrlich, Chief Executive Officer at Innovation Pharmaceuticals. “Early data on vaccines are an encouraging development in combatting the virus. But vaccines have their own challenges—notably, reticence among the public to get vaccinated, combined with delivery obstacles and potential resistance developing due to mutations. Vaccines offer only a partial solution. Major pharma understands this and it is why they are making significant investments in promising COVID-19 therapeutics. The clinical trial of Brilacidin for COVID-19 will be instrumental in taking the first step to develop Brilacidin as a ‘pan-coronavirus’ drug, benefiting patients with illnesses ranging from variants of the common cold to the most serious coronavirus infections.”