Innovation Pharmaceuticals Inc (IPIX)

[TheHound]

$IPIX issued a very well put together PR this morning regarding their COVID trial. Nice work Leo. Job well done!

Innovation Pharma Provides Study Details for Ongoing Phase 2 Clinical Trial of Brilacidin in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients

WAKEFIELD, MA – February 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) Innovation Pharmaceuticals (OTCQB:IPIX) (“the Company”), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, today provides additional study details for its ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial assessing Brilacidin as a novel therapeutic in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Patients are being treated, with recruitment and enrollment progressing at trial sites.

Innovation Pharma is developing Brilacidin, a defensin-mimetic, under Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The Phase 2 Brilacidin for COVID-19 clinical trial is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, international, multi-center study with planned enrollment of ~120 subjects with moderate-to-severe COVID-19. Two treatment arms are enrolling patients—active and placebo, with ~60 patients per arm. The study protocol provides for 3 days of study drug administration.

Active Arm (Brilacidin): Standard of Care + daily Brilacidin IV infusion for 3 days
Control Arm (Placebo): Standard of Care + daily Saline IV infusion for 3 days

After an interim review, by an independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC), dosing may be extended to 5 days.

The trial’s primary endpoint is time to sustained recovery through Day 29, using a clinical status ordinal scale based on that used in the series of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trials (ACTTs). Additional endpoints include: in-hospital outcomes (e.g., duration of hospitalization, time to discharge), all-cause mortality, measurement of disease biomarkers (e.g., CRP, ferritin) and inflammation-related biomarkers (e.g., IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-10, total IL-18, TNF-a), changes to SARS-CoV-2 viral load, as well as other key measures.

The study protocol will be registered and posted on www.clinicaltrials.gov.

Brilacidin and COVID-19
Brilacidin, which has received FDA Fast Track designation for the potential treatment of COVID-19, is one of the few drugs targeting COVID-19 that has been tested in human trials (a total of 8) for other clinical indications, providing established safety and efficacy data on over 460 subjects, thereby potentially enabling it to rapidly help address the novel coronavirus crisis. Pre-clinical testing at independent laboratories supports Brilacidin’s antiviral ability to safely and potently inhibit SARS-CoV-2, and multiple strains of human coronaviruses (H-CoVs). In a human lung cell line against SARS-CoV-2, Brilacidin achieved a Selectivity Index of 426. A molecular screening study of 11,552 compounds also supports Brilacidin as a promising novel coronavirus treatment. Brilacidin antiviral research to date has been limited to laboratory-based experiments. Additional pre-clinical and clinical data support Brilacidin’s inhibition of IL-6, IL-1ß, TNF-a and other pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, which have been identified as central drivers in the worsening prognoses of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Brilacidin’s robust antimicrobial properties might also help to fight secondary bacterial infections, which can co-present in up to 20 percent of COVID-19 patients. Collectively, these data support Brilacidin as a unique 3-in-1 combination—antiviral, immuno/anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial—COVID-19 therapeutic candidate, with pan-coronavirus treatment potential. The Company has initiated a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical trial of Brilacidin for treatment of COVID-19 in moderate-to-severe hospitalized patients. A peer-reviewed article in Viruses supporting Brilacidin’s COVID-19 treatment potential can be accessed at the link below.

Bakovic, A.; Risner, K.; Bhalla, N. (et al). Brilacidin Demonstrates Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 in Cell Culture. Viruses 2021, 13, 271; https://doi.org/10.3390/v13020271
https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/2/271/

Global COVID-19 Cases and Mortality
An online tool tracking COVID-19 cases and mortality, both in the U.S. and globally, can be found on the Company’s website (http://www.ipharminc.com), and at the following link:
https://ipixcovid19tracker.com/

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http://www.ipharminc.com/email-alerts/

About Innovation Pharmaceuticals

Innovation Pharmaceuticals Inc. (IPIX) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing a world-class portfolio of innovative therapies addressing multiple areas of unmet medical need, including inflammatory diseases, cancer, infectious diseases, and dermatologic diseases. Brilacidin, a versatile compound with broad therapeutic potential, is in a new chemical class called defensin-mimetics. A Phase 2 trial of Brilacidin as an oral rinse for the prevention of Severe Oral Mucositis (SOM) in patients with Head and Neck Cancer met its primary and secondary endpoints, including reducing the incidence of SOM. The Company plans to advance Brilacidin oral rinse into Phase 3 development, subject to available financial resources. Positive results were also observed in a Phase 2 Proof-of-Concept trial treating patients locally with Brilacidin for Ulcerative Proctitis/Ulcerative Proctosigmoiditis (UP/UPS). Brilacidin for UP/UPS was licensed to Alfasigma S.p.A. in July 2019, who have recently completed a Phase 1 study with their formulation. A Phase 2b trial of Brilacidin showed a single intravenous dose of the drug delivered comparable outcomes to a seven-day dosing regimen of the FDA-approved blockbuster daptomycin in treating Acute Bacterial Skin and Skin Structure Infection. Brilacidin, based on promising in vitro antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, is being evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical trial as a potential treatment for COVID-19. Kevetrin is a novel anti-cancer drug shown to modulate p53, often referred to as the “Guardian Angel Gene” due to its crucial role in controlling cell mutations and has successfully completed a Phase 2 trial in Ovarian Cancer. More information is available on the Company website at www.IPharmInc.com.