Allarity Therapeutics of Hørsholm, Denmark, today announced plans to further test the antiviral activity of stenoparib, its PARP inhibitor, against SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7, also known as Coronavirus Variant B117 (the “British variant”), at the COVID-19 Testing Service Center (CTSC) of Northern Arizona University’s Pathogen and Microbiome Institute (PMI), a leading U.S. infectious disease testing center. Stenoparib (formerly 2X-121, E7449) is a small molecule, targeted inhibitor of Poly ADP-Ribose Polymerase (PARP), a key DNA damage repair enzyme active in tumors, which was originally developed by the pharmaceutical company Eisai. Stenoparib exhibits dose-dependent suppression of SARS-CoV-2 multiplication and spread in Vero E6 monkey kidney and Calu-3 human lung adenocarcinoma cells.
Stenoparib was also strongly inhibitory to the human seasonal respiratory coronavirus HCoV-NL63. Based on previous positive pre-clinical test results with stenoparib as a treatment of SARS-CoV-2, announced on August 26, 2020, Allarity will now work with scientists at PMI to test the similar ability of stenoparib to block the infection and replication of SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7.
Results of the previous series of pre-clinical studies for SARS-CoV-2 were recently published in the peer-reviewed journal mBio, showing that stenoparib inhibits SARS-CoV-2 as a single agent. Besides, stenoparib in combination with remdesivir was active in inhibiting coronavirus in vitro. The concentration of stenoparib required for virus inhibition was lower in the combination study than in the single-agent study.
The two drugs target the virus through unique but different mechanisms of action.
To know more about origin, virology of COVID-19, Click here
To know more about emerging themes in COVID-19, Click here
To know more about how WhiteCoats can help you in your professional advancement, visit www.whitecoats.com
Want to set up an online consultation for your practice, Click here
Reference: Stone, N. E., et al. (2021) Stenoparib, an Inhibitor of Cellular Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase, Blocks Replication of the SARS-CoV-2 and HCoV-NL63 Human Coronaviruses In Vitro. mBio. doi.org/10.1128/mBio.03495-20.