On Apr. 28, 2020, Secarna Pharmaceuticals announced that the Company had entered into a cooperation with the First Affiliated Hospital at Guangzhou Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) for the development of a treatment or prophylactic for SARS-CoV-2 viral infections. Under this agreement, Secarna employed its proprietary LNAplusTM platform to develop antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) which specifically suppress the expression of a certain host factor that is essential for the viral infection cycle.

Secarna’s approach to target host factors is beneficial compared to other approaches targeting the virus directly, as most viruses are known to evade targeted therapies by mutation over time. This risk could be completely avoided by targeting host factors. Additionally, different viruses often depend on common host factors. Therefore, a therapy addressing a host factor linked to existing or emerging viruses could potentially also serve as a treatment against future challenges.

The feasibility of Secarna’s concept was already successfully demonstrated in 20191. In this study, Secarna employed its LNAplusTM platform to develop ASOs targeting the host factor NPC1 to efficiently reduce Ebola virus infection in vitro. The approach’s applicability to SARS-CoV-2 was evaluated by Prof. Claus Bachert at the University of Ghent in Belgium and the First Affiliated Hospital at Guangzhou Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU).