New in vitro Testing Confirms WP1122’s Antiviral Activity against Coronavirus

WPD Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, announced that Moleculin Biotech Inc., the company that sublicenses the compound WP1122 to WPD for 29 countries mainly in Europe, announced that a second round of independent laboratory testing has confirmed the antiviral activity of WP1122 against coronavirus.

Moleculin’s July 21, 2020 press release states, “Moleculin contracted with IIT Research Institute (an affiliate of the Illinois Institute of Technology, “IITRI”) for additional in vitro testing of its drug candidate, WP1122, in development as a possible treatment for COVID-19. The testing involved a cell viability assay in the VERO E6 cell line infected with SARS-CoV-2 and compared the therapeutic effects of 2-DG (the active ingredient in WP1122) alone with those of WP1122, a 2-DG prodrug. Importantly, the growth medium in this assay was carefully chosen to reflect the levels of glucose normally found in humans rather than the artificially high levels of glucose often used to accelerate in vitro testing.“

“Based on feedback from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), (Moleculin) believes it may need to demonstrate activity in a COVID-19 animal model to successfully submit a request for Investigational New Drug (“IND”) status for WP1122. In addition, (Moleculin) has also contracted with IITRI to conduct preclinical toxicology testing, which is currently under way.”

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