- Lexaria Bioscience Corp. announced positive results from its VIRAL-A20-2 study
- This study showed strong gains in delivery of the DehydraTECH-enabled remdesivir and ebastine among animals
- The success of this study shows the potential and commercial viability of Lexaria’s DehydraTECH
In June 2021, Lexaria Bioscience (NASDAQ: LEXX) announced positive results from its VIRAL-A20-2 study that evaluated the effectiveness of DehydraTECH-enabled remdesivir and ebastine among animals. The results were strongly positive and demonstrated greater effectiveness than in Lexaria’s first antiviral drug study reported in December 2000.
The research was a tolerability and pharmacokinetic (“PK”) study involving four groups of 10 animals each. It examined how they tolerated the DehydraTECH-enhanced drugs, looking for adverse effects as well as improvements in delivery of drugs into bloodstream. It evaluated peak concentration and total drug delivery into the bloodstream. Last month, Lexaria released the results, which showed a three-fold improvement in oral delivery of antiviral drugs (https://ibn.fm/z6Pli).
This specific study built on Lexaria’s earlier positive announcement on study VIRAL-C21-3, which showed that both remdesivir and ebastine processed with DehydraTECH effectively inhibited the COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 virus by using an in vitro screening assay in the infected cells.
VIRAL-A20-2 is part of Lexaria’s 2021’s applied research and development (“R&D”) study program that primarily focuses on using DehydraTECH formulations, targeting various application areas, including hypertension, antivirals, NSAIDs, and oral nicotine (https://ibn.fm/La99d). Peak concentration of remdesivir into bloodstream was 110% higher when processed with DehydraTECH than when not processed with Lexaria’s patented technology, and total drug delivery of ebastine into bloodstream was an astonishing 204% higher when processed with DehydraTECH than when not processed
“These are the best results Lexaria has ever generated, demonstrating our technology’s ability to more effectively deliver antiviral drugs when taken orally,” noted Chris Bunka, the Chief Executive Officer of Lexaria. “We are starting to see circulating drug levels in the bloodstream that are twice or even three-times higher with DehydraTECH than without, which could greatly enhance opportunities to treat viral infections via oral drug delivery,” he added.
On December 1, 2020, Lexaria reported that DehydraTECH processed darunavir posted a 54% improvement in drug delivery into bloodstream over 24 hours with DehydraTECH and efavirenz had a 42% gain in total drug delivery when processed with DehydraTECH. These two antiviral drugs being studied by Lexaria represent two other classes of antiviral therapies under investigation against SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19, currently in use against HIV/AIDS. It marks a significant achievement for the company.
Currently, remdesivir is only available in injectable form, given its poor oral bioavailability. As such, this limits its ease and potential breath of commercial use. Ebastine and various other MPro inhibitors also have their share of bioavailability challenges when taken orally. Lexaria, through these R&D studie, seeks to change this to allow for greater drug absorption via capsules instead of traditional injection-only.
The VIRAL-A20-2 study focused on peak concentration (“Maximum Concentration” or “Cmax”) as well as the total drug delivery into the rodent bloodstream. The rats were evaluated over the course of 48hrs after dosing to derive the measured Area Under the Curve (“AUClast”) for the entire period. Blood quantitation for remdesivir was conducted by measuring it in its GS-441524 nucleoside analogue metabolite form. It is a prodrug known for its rapid conversion by host cells into its active form following administration.
Lexaria Bioscience Corp. is constantly innovating with drug delivery platforms. Its flagship technology, DehydraTECH, is designed to improve how active pharmaceutical ingredients (“APIs”) enter the bloodstream by promoting healthier oral ingestion methods while also increasing the effectiveness of fat-soluble active molecules (https://ibn.fm/ZBA5R).
Currently, DehydraTECH is covered by 19 patents issued and over 50 pending patents across 40 different countries in the world. The achievements made so far within the VIRAL-A20-2 study confirms the commercial potential of DehydraTECH to improve drug delivery efficacy.
Lexaria expects to be releasing results every month this year from its many ongoing 2021 applied R&D programs. As its validating datasets continue to grow, as proven by its successful VIRAL-A20-2 study, the company seeks to pursue strategic collaboration opportunities with other established pharmaceutical industry partners. The move is geared to allow these partners to utilize and incorporate the DehydraTECH technology with antiviral drugs including those that are currently being studied.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.LexariaBioscience.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to LEXX are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/LEXX
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