Claritas is Developing R-107 as an Anti-Virus, Anti-COVID Therapy
R-107 is a nitric oxide releasing compound that can be administered orally by capsule or by injection. Following administration, R-107 will release nitric oxide into tissues throughout the body.
Why is Nitric Oxide Important in Treatment of COVID-19:
Nitric oxide can eliminate on contact the virus that causes COVID-19 infection.
• Data from a clinical study recently announced by Massachusetts General Hospital (“Mass General”) demonstrate that nitric oxide can eliminate the virus that causes COVID-19 infection.
• In the Mass General study, six pregnant patients with severe and critical COVID-19 infection received rescue therapy with inhaled nitric oxide. The treatment was well tolerated. By day 22, five of the six patients, who received no other antiviral medication, tested negative twice for SARS-CoV-2 (the human coronavirus that causes COVID-19 infection). All six patients were discharged, and have delivered healthy, COVID-19 free, infants. These data represent a breakthrough in the potential treatment of COVID-19 infection. 1
• In addition, Know Bio, LLC recently announced data from vitro studies which demonstrate that nitric oxide can inhibit viral reproduction of SARS-CoV-2. The result was a greater than a 99.9% reduction in virus observed after 24 hours, versus virus observed in untreated cells. 2
• Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden recently announced in vitro data demonstrating the dose dependent antiviral effect of nitric oxide on SARS-CoV-2 replication. 3
1 Nitric Oxide Eases Respiratory Distress in Pregnant COVID-19 Patients – Medscape – Sep 04, 2020
2 KNOW Bio Announces Breakthrough Nitric Oxide Discovery to Combat COVID-19 – First definitive demonstration of nitric oxide efficacy against the SARS-CoV-2 virus – KNOW Bio, LLC press release – Sep 10, 2020
3 Redox Biology, 2020 Oct; 37: 101734, Mitigation of the replication of SARS-CoV-2 by nitric oxide in vitro, Dario Akaberi, Janina Krambrich, Jiaxin Ling, Chen Luni, Göran Hedenstierna, Josef D. Järhult, Johan Lennerstrand, and Åke Lundkvist
What are Experts Saying About Nitric Oxide:
Dr. Lorenzo Berra, the critical-care specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital who is overseeing an international trial of nitric oxide in treatment of COVID-19 stated, “It’s a pretty remarkable drug. It has a risk profile that is minimal.”
Dr. Keith Scott, principal investigator of the Louisiana component of the Mass General trial stated that, “We have tremendous confidence this therapy will alter the devastating effects of COVID-19… If results show promise, and since this gas is already FDA-approved, widespread use could begin immediately.”
Åke Lundkvist, a professor at Uppsala University, who led the Uppsala study, stated, “To our knowledge, nitric oxide is the only substance shown so far to have a direct effect on SARS-CoV-2.”
It’s a pretty remarkable drug. It has a risk profile that is minimal
What Advantages Does R-107 Have Over Nitric Oxide:
Nitric Oxide is a gas that must be administered as an inhalation therapy.
Administration of nitric oxide gas requires special CPAP-like delivery equipment and administration by a trained respiratory therapist twice per day, which substantially limits the number of patients that can be treated at any one time. As such, nitric oxide is not a practical treatment in a pandemic situation.
R-107 transforms Nitric Oxide into a practical therapy:
R-107 overcomes the issues with nitric oxide gas, and transforms nitric oxide therapy into a potentially best-of-care treatment for COVID-19 infection – even in a pandemic situation. Unlike nitric oxide, which must be administered as an inhalation therapy, R-107 is a liquid that is readily administered by a single intramuscular injection. Due to its ease of administration, R-107 will allow for thousands of patients to be treated simultaneously, without the need for special delivery equipment or trained respiratory therapists.
R-107 provides sustained delivery of Nitric Oxide over a 24-hour period:
Unlike nitric oxide, which has a half-life of only a few seconds after being absorbed in the lung, R-107 slowly releases nitric oxide all tissues of the body over 24-hours
R-107 delivers Nitric Oxide systemically throughout the body – not just in the lungs:
After injection, R-107 enters the bloodstream, where it begins to deliver nitric oxide systemically throughout the body, thus allowing the nitric oxide it release to potentially eliminate the SARS-CoV-2 virus in all tissues, not only in the lungs.