Omeros announced preliminary results from the second cohort of critically ill COVID-19 patients treated with narsoplimab in Bergamo, Italy. These patients were part of the ﾓsecond surgeﾔ of COVID-19 in Italy. Narsoplimab is the companyﾒs lead inhibitor of mannan-binding lectin-associated serine protease 2 (MASP-2), the effector enzyme of the lectin pathway of complement.

The patients were treated under compassionate use at ASST Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital between October 2020 and April 2021. Highlights of the study are as follows:

Baseline characteristics of the 10 study patients

• Median age: 65 years (range 41 to 79 years)
• 90% were men
• All had comorbidities/risk factors for poor outcome (i.e., diabetes, cardiovascular disease/hypertension, overweight/obese, dyslipidemia)
• Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) severity (by Berlin criteria) at time of intubation or ICU admission: 80% severe, 20% moderate
• All had failed other therapies (steroids)

Narsoplimab treatment:

• 90% were intubated at initiation of narsoplimab treatment
• Narsoplimab was administered intravenously twice weekly; median doses administered: 6 (range 3 to 8 doses)

Results:

• 80% recovered, survived and were discharged
• 2 deaths
  • 76-year-old man from complications of pre-existing cardiomyopathy; received 3 doses of narsoplimab
  • 68-year-old man from multi-organ failure; narsoplimab dosing was initiated after 13 days of intubation

Omeros planned to publish detailed data from the study in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.