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NEWS: NNVC (Nano firm signs research deal)

Steve Higgins, Register Business Editor
04/10/2007

-WEST HAVEN — NanoViricides Inc. has signed a joint research and development agreement with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research to create a drug to treat dengue fever.

The Silver Spring, Md.-based institute is the U.S. Department of Defense’s lead agency for infectious disease research.

NanoViricides will develop drug candidates, and the institute will test them, first in the lab and then in animals.

"This collaboration will leverage Walter Reed’s extensive experience in dengue fever research with our unique nanoviricide technology platform for creating anti-viral medications," said NanoViricides’ Chairman and President Anil Diwan.

NanoViricides, headquartered at 135 Wood St., is a development stage company that is creating nanomaterials for viral therapy.

Founded by Diwan, the company is developing treatments for HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, herpes simplex, influenza and Asian bird flu. The company is also currently testing an anti-rabies drug in Vietnam, in cooperation with the Vietnamese government.

Col. Julia Lynch, director of the Division of Viral Diseases at the institute, said NanoViricides’ research "sounds very promising, so we wanted to work with them."

The institute is working toward a cure with other companies as well, she said, and is also testing a potential vaccine.

"It’s a very common infection in a large portion of the world that causes a prolonged illness that’s very debilitating," she said. "It is on the rise globally, so it’s an increasing threat to our soldiers."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, dengue fever "is the most important mosquito-borne viral disease affecting humans; its global distribution is comparable to that of malaria, and an estimated 2.5 billion people live in areas at risk for epidemic transmission. Each year, tens of millions of cases of dengue fever occur."

Dengue fever is a flu-like illness that causes high fever, rash, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, and often-severe muscle and joint pain. Nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite are common. It can last up to 10 days, but complete recovery can take as long as a month.

In some cases the disease progresses to dengue hemorrhagic fever, which causes blood vessels to leak and causes bleeding from the nose, mouth and gums. Dengue hemorrhagic fever is fatal about 5 percent of the time, mostly among children and young adults.

In the United States, about 100 cases of dengue fever are reported each year, from travelers returning from tropical areas. The mosquitoes that transmit it are also found in Texas, Florida and other Southern states, and six cases of dengue fever have been reported since 1980 in south Texas residents who had not traveled anywhere.

Eugene Seymour, CEO of NanoViricides, said the company is obtaining the needed antibodies from the institute.

"They are looking for a treatment, and we were looking for a collaboration with someone who has a research and animal laboratory," he said. "We don’t want to go to the expense of setting up our own testing laboratory."

NanoViricides’ stock trades on the Pink Sheets as NNVC.pk, and the company has applied to trade over the counter. The stock closed Monday at $1.27 a share, up 2 cents.

Steve Higgins can be reached at [e-mail] or 789-5752.

©New Haven Register 2007

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