On Mar. 18, 2020, Mateon Therapeutics reported significant progress in deploying its phase 3 clinical asset, OT-101, against coronavirus. In an in vitro antiviral testing performed by an independent laboratory, OT-101 has an 50% effective concentration (EC50) of 7.6 ﾵg/mL and is not toxic at the highest dose of 1000 ﾵg/mL giving a safety index (SI) value of >130, which is considered highly active. Mateon intends to work with the FDA to permit OT-101 to enter into clinical testing against COVID-19 as soon as preclinical testing is completed.

OT-101 is also being developed as a broad-spectrum anti-cancer drug that can also be used in combination with other standard cancer therapies to establish an effective multi-modality treatment strategy for difficult-to-treat cancers, including high-grade gliomas and pancreatic cancer. Mateon also plans to initiate phase 3 clinical trials for OT-101 in both high-grade glioma and pancreatic cancer.

In addition to therapeutic approaches for inhibiting virus replication and treating the consequences of infection, the Company is also evaluating the potential of its AI Vision technology to be deployed to help monitor patients infected with the current COVID-19 virus, or any future viruses, while simultaneously reducing the need for direct contact with hospital personnel, which poses a risk to the caregivers.