Antiviral for COVID-19
Currently, SyneuRx is conducting two clinical programs of COVID-19 treatments— Pentarlandir® as an oral capsule and Airnecflu® as an inhaled treatment.
The company’s COVID-19 efforts began in February 2020 as COVID-19 emerged to be a global pandemic, SyneuRx decided to apply its extensive R&D experience with CNS therapeutics toward R&D for COVID-19 antivirals in an effort to help develop a safe, effective, and accessible treatment that would prevent the progression and transmission of the disease.
SyneuRx scientists arrived at the theory that regulatory enzymes such as protease would be a critically-important ‘drug target’ for these types of illnesses, which coincidentally is also a target for several virally-caused diseases such as HIV and hepatitis. Researchers decided to test the company’s proprietary library of compounds against the protease and discovered that the compound that became Pentarlandir proved to be the most safe and efficacious in preclinical tests.
Pentarlandir’s ability to block coronavirus replication was confirmed in multiple, rigorous cellular studies and it was also proved to maintain an excellent safety profile, which made Pentarlandir an ideal candidate to go into clinical development.
Pentarlandir Mechanism of Action
SyneuRx’ preclinical work has shown that Pentarlandir® can work against SARS-CoV-2 in 3 ways:
- Inhibiting the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 to suppress virus replication
- Inhibiting the transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) of human cells to block virus entry into human cells
- Providing anti-inflammatory effect against cytokine storm that can lead to the deterioration of the illness
Pentarlandir® primarily works on inhibiting the main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2. Main protease is one of the most conserved region of the virus among variants, and is the critical first major step to activate viral replication. Not surprisingly, SyneuRx has demonstrated Pentarlandir’s® effectiveness against both Omicron and Delta variants in preclinical studies.
In addition, Pentarlandir® is shown to inhibit H1N1 replication as well, thus holding the promise to be a powerful tool for “twindemic,” which is expected when a wave of influenza (flu) and a surge of COVID-19 strike at the same time.
Pentarlandir® is also a D-amino acid oxidase (DAAO) inhibitor, which modulates N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors and protects neurons in human brains. Therefore, Pentarlandir® can potentially improve the common post-COVID-19 conditions such as depression and cognitive deterioration.