PharmaDrug (CSE:BUZZ) to develop antiviral pill for the treatment of COVID-19

The drug, which has been used for over 70 years in Japan to treat a variety of acute and chronic diseases, will be formulated as an oral pill to treat mild to moderate COVID-19.

While COVID-19 vaccination programs have served as an efficient immunization rollout to curb the rate of infection, said PharmaDrug in its press release, there remains an urgent need for additional antiviral therapies for COVID-19 and future coronavirus outbreaks.

Dr. David Kessler, Chief Science Officer for the Biden administration’s COVID-19 response, commented, “An easily administered oral antiviral drug would be an important part of our therapeutic arsenal that would complement the great success of our vaccine efforts.”

The magnitude of the current pandemic has brought into sharp focus how susceptible the world remains to known and novel coronaviruses.

To date, several third-party validated library screens of approved and investigational drugs have identified cepharanthine as a forerunner candidate based on the superior antiviral properties it displays against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Daniel Cohen, chairman and CEO of PharmaDrug, commented on the development of the drug.

“We are committed to advance the development of our patented and novel formulated version of cepharanthine, designated as PD-001, for infectious diseases,” he said, “with a particular focus on developing it as a potential first-in-class oral antiviral pill to complement vaccines in the treatment of COVID-19 and future coronaviruses globally.”

At this time, PharmaDrug clarified, it has not made any claims that the product has the ability to treat, eliminate, or cure COVID-19 or other infectious diseases.

PharmaDrug is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of controlled substances and natural medicines.

PharmaDrug (BUZZ) is up 6.67 per cent on the day, trading at $0.08 per share as of 3:59 pm ET.