On Monday we learned from Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s Chief Scientific Advisor, that the Coronavirus will probably never go away and that a vaccine will not completely stop it. He also said ministers and experts should stop making “excessive promises” and be realistic about the prospects for a vaccine and the likely timeline for one, unlikely before the spring of next year.
He then echoed his earlier warnings and those of his colleague, Professor Chris Whitty, that the fight against COVID-19 will be long and will be with us forever.
So from this, should we assume that there is no “silver bullet” for COVID-19 infections?
What if there was only one treatment that:
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it could stop the infection in its tracks,
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it was anti-inflammatory; control the immune system’s response to infection and prevent it from reacting in a dangerous way,
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in cases where patients developed secondary bacterial infections in the lungs, antibiotics could be overloaded; enhancing its effectiveness and eve,
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it was a repurposed drug; already tested as safe
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It was easy to do, scalable to the level required to make a difference in the pandemic, and it was cost effective, so wouldn’t that be something we should all be excited about?
Surely, although there is no such thing as a “silver bullet” game-changing therapy. After all, the only treatments we hear about for COVID are those that President Trump took, which were either very new, expensive, and experimental or have very limited application to a particular aspect of the disease.
Well, you heard it here first: there is a “silver bullet” treatment today. It’s called Nylexa®, from the small UK biotech company NovaBiotics Ltd. Its active ingredients have been used safely in medicines that treat unrelated conditions for more than 30 years.
NovaBiotics discovered Nylexa’s potential benefits in COVID-19 after a decade of research into difficult-to-treat drug-resistant infections, including complex chest infections and inflammation associated with cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease. In March, they applied for a £ 1 million grant from Innovate UK (on behalf of the government) to start clinical trials. That grant was finally awarded earlier this month, and the government is now considering whether or not to include Nylexa in two separate studies on the NHS platform.
But why, I hear you ask, if this is so good haven’t we heard of it before? Why aren’t the government and the press shouting about this from the rooftops? Why aren’t doctors desperate for effective treatments for their patients asking for it?
I’m afraid it all comes down to money. Small biotech companies have a hard time gaining attention because they don’t have the resources available to their bigger and better-funded rivals. The names we regularly read about when it comes to innovative new treatments are invariably large multinational pharmaceutical companies with big pockets and big budgets to promote their own particular products. They make sure your medications receive the required care. NovaBiotics is a small private company founded by a group of loyal and supportive shareholders, so it sadly does not have the resources to compete for the attention of the big boys.
This is why this situation is so frustrating. By mitigating the health consequences of contracting COVID-19, Nylexa® could increase public confidence of living with the virus in the longer term and potentially allow a greater degree of normalcy to return to the way we live, benefiting the economy. directly in addition to alleviating the burden of COVID-19 on the NHS and health systems globally. However, getting people in positions of influence to notice everyone else vying for their attention is actually very difficult.
Thousands of potential COVID-19 treatments are reported to exist in clinical trials around the world. I would challenge anyone to show me one that has the same positive impact potential as Nylexa®, but is not currently part of any test, despite its impeccable credentials. So come on, UK government and ministers, put your finger out and put this drug on trial right away. The sooner the test is done, the sooner it can be used to help solve the disaster that the pandemic has caused in all of our lives.
About NovaBiotics Ltd
NovaBiotics Ltd is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on designing and developing world-class therapies for medically unsatisfied and difficult-to-treat infectious diseases.diseases caused by bacteria and fungi and respiratory conditions including cystic fibrosis and COVID-19.
A leading innovator in the anti-infective space, the Company’s robust technology and business model has been validated through the successful development, from concept to advanced stage clinical development, of its most advanced candidate products. In addition to the Nylexa® core program and other late-stage assets of the Company (Lynovex® for cystic fibrosis, NP213 / Novexatin® for onychomycosis), NovaBiotics has generated a strong portfolio of high-value, earlier-stage drug candidates, including NP339 ( Department of Health and Welfare) for life-threatening, invasive drug-resistant fungal disease and NP432 for multi-drug resistant bacterial infections.
About Nylexa®
Nylexa® is a new candidate for dual antimicrobial-immunomodulatory therapy. It is a small, simple molecule that has a wide range of antimicrobial effects by targeting microbes directly and also modulating the body’s ability to control infections. Importantly, the active ingredient in Nylexa has a key role in infection resolution and inflammation control that NovaBiotics has harnessed as a solution for COVID-19.
For bacterial infections, Nylexa is a potential solution to a public health challenge even greater than COVID-19: the worsening biotic antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis. Because the active ingredient in Nylexa is reused and has been used in medicines for other, unrelated conditions for more than 30 years, it can potentially be introduced into clinical practice in a much shorter time frame than newer antibiotic treatments developed since the first principle. Simply put, Nylexa® ‘supercharges’ existing antibiotics in bacterial infections, especially against drug-resistant bacteria.
For more information contact
Dr. Deborah O’Neil – CEO and CSO
0044 (0) 1224 711377