On Mar. 12, 2020, Innovation Pharma announced research procedures that one of the 12 Regional Biocontainment Labs (RBLs) in the U.S. will follow when testing Brilacidin, the Company’s lead defensin mimetic drug candidate, against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19. Testing was scheduled to begin the week of March 16.

Staff scientists at the RBL will evaluate Brilacidin’s potential inhibitory efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 in lung epithelial cell lines, as well as its potential inhibitory effect in viral replication of the alphavirus (with Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus [VEEV] as a prototype) in different cell lines. VEEV has been chosen as a prototype because of the RBL’s focus in this area, possessing in-house necessary assays to assess the antiviral and anti-inflammatory activity of a given compound. Brilacidin also will be compared with other small molecules to assess Brilacidin’s potential relative efficacy.

Should Brilacidin show promise (a minimum of 1.5-2 log inhibition in the low micromolar range), testing will be expanded to include additional mechanism of action studies to determine Brilacidin’s specific inhibitory activity across the lifecycle of the SARS-CoV-2 virus—viral entry, viral RNA and viral release. Host kinase landscape may also be explored to determine if Brilacidin has any effect on the kinase function of specific target kinases by multiplexed proteomics strategies. Last, synergistic studies of Brilacidin, with other antivirals, might also be pursued.