Noxopharm's NOXCOVID Trial Advances to Final Stage

SYDNEY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Australian clinical-stage drug development company Noxopharm Limited (ASX:NOX) announced that Veyonda has been approved to move into the second and final stage of the NOXCOVID-1 clinical trial on the advice of the study’s clinicians.

Part 1 of the NOXCOVID-1 trial involved 26 patients and was a dose-escalation arm testing the safety of increasing (400, 600, 800, 1200, 1800 mg) daily Veyonda dosages. The 1800 mg dose was deemed to be sufficiently well tolerated in patients with moderate COVID-19 disease to become the preferred dose. The high tolerance of the drug by patients with very poor lung function provides further evidence of the safety of Veyonda in patients with acute illness.

Noxopharm CEO Dr. Graham Kelly said, “The high potency of Veyonda in blocking cytokine release from damaged tissue in the laboratory meant we were obliged to adopt a very cautious and methodical approach when being used for the first time in patients with poor lung function. We can now be confident that Veyonda, despite its potency, is well tolerated at a dosage we believe will be therapeutic.”

Part 2 of the NOXCOVID-1 trial now is starting to recruit a minimum of 10 and up to 15 patients with moderate-to-severe lung dysfunction. Patients will be treated for up to 14 days with an 1800 mg Veyonda dose each day.

Noxopharm is committed to pursuing its NOXCOVID program for two main reasons: Despite the advent of COVID-19 vaccines, emerging news of new mutant strains of the virus points to a likely ongoing long-term need for effective treatments for COVID-19 patients who go on to develop long-term lung damage and are at high risk of septic shock.

The current pandemic represents a small proportion of patients who die each year from septic shock. Even once the pandemic abates, the need for an effective and safe ongoing treatment for septic shock will remain.

About Noxopharm

Noxopharm is a clinical-stage Australian oncology drug development company with offices in Sydney and New York. The company has a primary focus on the development of Veyonda and is the major shareholder in the nononcology drug development company, Nyrada Inc.