Here to stay30 Nov 2020 14:41
SNG001 is a formulation of recombinant interferon beta for inhaled delivery by nebuliser that is in development for the treatment of virus-induced lower respiratory tract illnesses.
Patients who received SNG001 had greater odds of improvement and recovered more rapidly from SARS-CoV-2 infection than patients who received placebo, providing a strong rationale for further trials.
SNG001 has been shown to boost lung antiviral defences, as assessed by sputum cell antiviral biomarkers, in patients with and without respiratory viral infections.
SNG001, a treatment already studied and shown to be well tolerated in patients with asthma and COPD, seems to also be well tolerated in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, with a range of clinical outcomes displaying a beneficial pattern of response to SNG001 therapy.
The odds of improvement on the OSCI scale were more than two-fold greater in the SNG001 group than in the placebo group on day 15 or 16 and more than three-fold greater on day 28.
Further trials in different clinical settings, including in ventilated patients or in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 not requiring treatment in hospital, are underway.
With the second wave of COVID-19 coinciding with the winter incidence of cold and influenza in the northern hemisphere, the development of broad-spectrum antiviral agents, such as interferon-ß, that boost local lung defences rather than targeting specific viral mechanisms, might carry substantial additional benefits to patients and to overburdened health-care systems.
Source The Lancet