Clinical Accelerator is pleased to announce a new collaboration with Noxopharm, a leading Australian drug development company. Noxopharm’s NOX66 therapy has received trial approval and is now in a Phase Ib, open-label trial by Clinical Accelerator in Eastern Europe. The trial will evaluate the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of NOX66 over a 4.5-fold dose-range in COVID-19 patients. We aim to establish the recommended Phase 2 dosage and also collect information on NOX66’s effect on several variables related to COVID-19 infection. For the study, the therapy is being given to hospitalized patients with moderate systemic illness due to COVID-19 infection at a high risk of developing severe sepsis/septic shock.

Idronoxil, the active ingredient in NOX66/Veyonda, is a multiple signal transduction regulator and immunomodulator via cancer specific inhibition of sphingosine1-phosphate and suppression of stimulator of interferon genes (STING)-mediated inflammatory cytokine pathways. In non-clinical studies, it has been shown that idronoxil can suppress a broad range of cytokines due to its capacity to strongly inhibit STING signalling, a cellular pathway associated with the onset of ‘cytokine storms’. Since COVID-19 patients can develop a ‘cytokine storm’ which may result in multiple organ failure and potentially death, is hypothesized that NOX66 can reduce this risk.

Another benefit of NOX66 is its potential to reduce  blood clotting events in COVID-19 patients, a condition that is being increasingly reported in some critically ill patients. This benefit is based on recent evidence which suggests that STING activation in immune cells may trigger aberrant blood coagulation.

Although many COVID-19 patients do not progress to severe disease, the frequency of severe disease in hospitalised patients in areas with significant community transmission can be as high as 30%. This highlights the urgent need for an effective therapy against this novel coronavirus-induced disease. We are hopeful that this trial can contribute to the discovery of a beneficial treatment for COVID-19 patients.

About Noxopharm

Noxopharm is an Australian clinical stage drug development company with a focus on developing a treatment for COVID-19 and also cancer. The company is run by a strong team of experts in the field including: CEO Graham Kelly; CMO Dr Gisela Mautner; COO Jeanette Bell; CFO Shawn Van Boheemen; CSO Dr John Wilkinson and Director of Drug Discovery and Research Olivier Laczka.

For more information, please see https://www.noxopharm.com/site/content/

About Clinical Accelerator

Clinical Accelerator is an independent clinical trial management organisation operating principally in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine and CIS countries. The organisation offers a broad range of clinical trial services together with dedicated patient enrolment support to worldwide clients in the pharmaceutical, biotechnological, nutraceutical and medical device industries. Clinical Accelerator’s model of operation is designed to achieve significant cost savings for its clients and to guarantee compact timelines for patient enrolment with a firm focus on the quality of clinical trial data.