Four B.C. groups race to find treatment for COVID-19
Health Canada’s nationwide endeavour is accelerating some areas of research
Four B.C. organizations are among two dozen groups working in Canada to find a treatment for COVID -19, with millions in federal funding up for grabs.
According to Health Canada, the University of B.C., Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc. and SaNOtize Research and Development Corp. are all authorized groups in the race for a treatment. On Sunday, the federal government announced that Vancouver-based AbCellera Biologics Inc. would receive $175.6 million to develop an antibody to treat COVID-19. The company, one of the first in North America to receive a blood sample from a patient who had recovered from the coronavirus, has a threemonth human trial set for July.
There is no treatment or vaccine available to people who contract COVID -19 and develop symptoms, but the federal government has set aside $1 billion to help find a vaccine and/or treatment for the disease that has killed 121 British Columbians, 4,043 Canadians and 257,000 people globally.
At UBC, there is an Open Label Safety Study on the inhalation of nitric oxide for adults with viral lung infections that include COVID -19.
According to a study report, inhaled nitric oxide has been used before in patients with difficult lung infections.
“This study will provide more data to see if (nitric oxide) therapy can reduce the bacterial load in the lungs, help the patients breathe better; and in the case of COVID -19 act as an antiviral agent resulting in the reduction of incidence of oxygen therapy, mechanical assistance of BIPAP (bi-level positive airway pressure), CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure), intubation and mechanical ventilation during the study period,” the report states.
Also working on nitric oxide is Vancouver biotech company SaNOtize Research and Development. SaNOtize has Health Canada Phase 2 approval to test a nitric oxide antiviral solution to prevent COVID -19 that would be used daily.
According to the company, “if our Phase (2) results confirm our earlier work, including the very encouraging results just received from the Antiviral Research Institute,
we will be seeking emergency approval in Canada to proceed directly to Phase 4 introduction of our product to the market as part of the global fight against this deadly pandemic.”
Algernon Pharmaceuticals is repurposing the drug ifenprodil to treat the cytokine storm that sees a sudden inflammation of the lungs in some COVID-19 patients. The company says it has a “No Objection Letter” from Health Canada to proceed to Phase 2b/3 of the multinational clinical trial of the drug.
An Algernon share was worth nine cents March 5 and has since risen twice to 50 cents a share.
The federal government has also revealed plans to build a first-ofits-kind antibody manufacturing facility in Vancouver over the next four years.
Aside from the B.C. research, other Canadian groups are testing the drugs hydroxychloroquine (treatment); ribavirin (treatment by inhalation); ritonavir (prevention); remdesivir (treatment); colchicine (treatment); lopinavir (treatment); tocilizumab (treatment for severe pneumonia); peginterferon (antiviral treatment); sarilumab (treatment for severe lung inflammation); plus Vitamin C.