On Sept. 14, 2020, Mateon Therapeutics announced that its global study based on its ARTI-19 protocol for Artemisinin Intervention against COVID-19 had been cleared for patient enrollment in India.

ARTI-19 in India is being conducted by Windlas as part of a co-development agreement between Windlas Biotech Private Limited (Windlas) and Mateon. The two companies executed an MOU on August 19, 2020 for the development and commercialization of Artemisinin as both a therapeutic pharmaceutical as well as herbal supplement against COVID-19. Windlas is a 20-year-old company with large scale manufacturing facilities in India employing more than 1500 employees and is the 5th largest Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) serving pharma companies across the world.

The development of Artemisinin against COVID-19 is dependent on the successful completion of the ARTI-19 clinical trial “Artemisinin Intervention trial against COVID-19”, which is being initiated globally in Africa, India, and South America. Windlas is Mateon’s manufacturing partner for clinical trial and commercial product roll out.