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A New Zealand company has found 11 drugs that show promise for fighting the Covid-19 virus and, although it is early, it has quickly started planning clinical trials.
Koru’s team will work with another New Zealand facility authorized to retest against the actual Covid-19 virus (file image).
Photo: 123RF
Avondale-based Koru Lifescience is testing already registered drugs to see if any might be helpful in helping people infected with the virus fight it off faster and with less harm.
Chief Executive Officer Akhil Jain said that while there were other New Zealand researchers working on a possible vaccine, his company’s project was the only one he knew of in the country working on treatments for Covid-19.
The team designed a bespoke 3D computer search to examine 60,000 drugs and look for chemical structures that serve as good weapons to fight the new coronavirus.
The search found 100 drugs of interest, and these have now been narrowed to 11, using preclinical laboratory tests that effectively fight the drugs against a live virus that has a structure and behavior similar to that caused by Covid-19.
Like many others, Koru’s team has focused on drugs that target the characteristic spike proteins that protrude from the coronavirus, the S protein.
These spikey structures on the surface of the virus attach to cells within our body, allowing the virus to inject its own genetic data into cells and use our own cells to produce copies of itself, which then spread to more cells throughout the body.
If the drugs can bind with the spikes of the virus, it is possible that they can prevent it from attaching to the cells of the body, so it will not be able to replicate and spread, fighting it effectively.
In the lab tests they’ve already done, the team has seen “significant binding to various sites on the S-1 protein,” which was cause for excitement, Jain said.
“If we can inhibit entry [to the cell]So there is a very good chance that we can maintain a very low viral population within a patient, and a patient would experience more like the common cold, and would not have any serious disease progression. “
They believe that all drugs could be administered orally in the form of tablets or capsules that would begin to act against the virus within hours of being ingested.
From here, Koru’s team will work with another authorized New Zealand facility to retest against the actual live Covid-19 virus; SARS-CoV-2. Subsequently, clinical trials are planned for early next year, with human test subjects already having symptoms of Covid-19.
Jain said that because New Zealand was in a fortunate situation where there were few patients here who had contracted Covid-19, human trials might have to take place abroad.
He was also hopeful about the news coming from teams working on vaccines in New Zealand and around the world, but said it was always better to have as many potential options to fight a disease as possible.
If successful, Koru’s team would register the already recognized compounds for a new use.
“Working with known compounds is faster and easier, because they already have a known safety profile. Because when creating a new compound, the biggest concern is: will it be safe to consume or will it be toxic?”
Existing drugs have already been extensively tested to demonstrate their safety for humans, as well as the environment and other animals that may be exposed to them.
“We will work with those [original] inventors where needed, collaborate with them and bring the therapy to market, “said Jain.
“At this stage, I think the pharmaceutical industry is quite united that way, and people are rising beyond who owns it, and we are all working in a unified format to fight this, because this pandemic has a huge impact. economic implications “.
He said that as news of the global pandemic spread, Koru Lifescience shifted its focus from other research projects to help find a solution. They had four people working on drug investigations, which they said was a great investment for a small business that started three years ago.
Many local and international teams and scientists shared information and advice openly as part of a massive worldwide movement to find drugs to fight the virus, and this helped Koru’s work progress significantly and was inspiring, Jain said.
“It has been very hard work for our team, we are quite a small company, and a lot of money and a lot of news has been spent for the company. But our perspective was to find a result that could help everyone, but especially in New Zealand; we have Decided that if we succeed, this will be provided at the expense of the country.
“We are quite proud to be a small country and we are trying to fight above our weight, so we are extremely proud of what we have achieved so far. We want to tell the world that we have those capabilities and experience here as well.”
