PharmaMar says paper in journal Science confirms drug’s efficacy vs Covid-19

MADRID — Spanish pharmaceutical company PharmaMar said on Tuesday that peer-review journal Science has published a paper that confirms its drug Plitidepsin has a “potent preclinical efficacy” against Covid-19.

PharmaMar’s shares were up 13% at 98.5 euros shortly after opening.

A study carried out in vitro and in vivo by a team of scientists in New York, San Francisco, and Paris showed the drug leads to a reduction of viral replication, resulting in a 99% reduction of viral loads in the lungs of Plitidepsin-treated animals, the Science paper reported, according to a PharmaMar statement.

“We believe that our data and the initial positive results from PharmaMar’s clinical trial suggests that Plitidepsin should be strongly considered for expanded clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19,” PharmaMar quoted Science as saying.

The drug, already authorized in some markets to treat tumors, blocks a protein associated with the Covid-19 virus. The toxicity of the drug is well known and the doses used in Covid-19 trials are well tolerated in humans, the company said.

PharmaMar said it was in talks with various regulatory agencies to start Phase III trials.

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