On Apr. 21, 2022, Cocrystal Pharma announced a Non-Clinical Evaluation Agreement with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for exploratory preclinical studies to evaluate the potential of Cocrystal 3CL protease inhibitors for the treatment of COVID-19. Cocrystal applied its proprietary drug discovery platform technology to develop novel, broad-spectrum SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease inhibitors. Under the NIAID collaboration, Cocrystal its 3CL protease inhibitors, and the NIAID was responsible for in vitro and in vivo studies evaluating the antiviral activity of the compounds.

A division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), NIAID conducts and supports basic and applied research to better understand, treat and ultimately prevent infectious, immunologic and allergic diseases. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. was appointed Director of the NIAID in 1984.

Cocrystal is developing COVID-19 drug candidates that specifically target proteins involved in viral replication. Despite the various strains of virus that may exist or emerge, these enzymes are required for viral replication and are essentially similar (highly conserved) among all strains. By targeting these highly conserved regions of the replication enzymes, Cocrystal’s antiviral compounds are designed and tested to be effective against major virus strains. Additionally, Cocrystal believes it is possible to develop an effective treatment for all coronavirus diseases including COVID-19, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The Company’s main SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibitors showed potent in vitro pan-viral activity against common human coronaviruses, rhinoviruses and respiratory enteroviruses that frequently cause the common cold, as well as against noroviruses that can cause symptoms of acute gastroenteritis.