Atossa Therapeutics Announces Successful In vitro Testing Results of COVID-19 Drug: AT-H201 Inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Infectivity of VERO Cells in Laboratory Culture
SEATTLE, May 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Atossa Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATOS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company seeking to discover and develop innovative medicines in areas of significant unmet medical need with a current focus on breast cancer and COVID-19, today announced the successful results from?in vitrotesting of AT-H201, Atossa?s proprietary COVID-19 drug candidate. The preliminary study results show that AT-H201 inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infectivity of VERO cells in a laboratory culture, which are the standard cell types being used to study infectivity of the coronavirus. SARS-CoV-2, sometimes called the coronavirus, is the COVID-19 infectious agent.
AT-H201 is designed to act as a ?chemical vaccine? by binding to the surface of the coronavirus and inhibiting the ability of the virus to enter a cell (?viral infectivity?). Significant findings from the testing include:
- AT-H201 components inhibited SARS-CoV-2 from infecting VERO cells in a laboratory culture.
- This is the first submicromolar inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 identified to date in published literature, meaning that a relatively small amount of the drug is necessary to result in an anti-viral effect.
- Testing was also performed on remdesivir, an anti-viral medication being studied by others for use in COVID-19 patients, and the generic anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which is also being studied by others in COVID-19 patients. In these laboratory tests, the components of AT-H201 were found to be at least four-times more potent than remdesivir and at least twenty-times more potent than hydroxychloroquine. Potency was measured by microscopic examination of the cytopathic effect caused by SARS-CoV-2 in VERO cells.