On May 20, 2020, BioSig Technologies and its subsidiary, ViralClear Pharmaceuticals, announced the closing of a $10.8 million common stock financing. ViralClear planned to use the proceeds of this offering for the development, including phase II human clinical trials, of its product candidate merimepodib, a broad-spectrum anti-viral agent. The financing was completed at a $100 million pre-money valuation.

On May 18, 2020, ViralClear announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) clearance of its IND to proceed with a proposed phase II study of merimepodib in COVID-19 patients. The human clinical trials are planned to be conducted under leadership of Dr. Andrew D. Badley, Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular Medicine and the Enterprise Chair of the COVID-19 Task Force at Mayo Clinic.

Merimepodib, a broad-spectrum anti-viral candidate, that demonstrates strong activity against COVID-19 in cell cultures in laboratory testing and additional antiviral studies are underway. Merimepodib was previously in development as a treatment for chronic hepatitis C and psoriasis by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Vertex), with 12 clinical trials conducted (including 315 chronic hepatitis C patients, 24 psoriasis patients, and 98 healthy volunteers) and an extensive preclinical safety package completed.