Dual Effects of Nanoviricides Platform Technology Based NV-CoV-2 Biomimetic Polymer Against COVID-19

Abstract

Remdesivir (RDV) is the only antiviral drug so far approved for COVID-19 therapy by the FDA. However its efficacy is limited in vivo due to its low stability in presence of plasma. This paper compared the stability of RDV encapsulated with our platform technology based polymer NV-387 (NV-CoV-2), in presence of plasma in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, a non- clinical pharmacology studies of NV-CoV-2 (Polymer) and NV-CoV-2-R (Polymer encapsulated Remdesivir) in both NL-63 infected and uninfected rats were done. In an in vitro cell culture model experiment, antiviral activity of NV-CoV-2 and NV-CoV-2-R are also compared with RDV.The results are (i) NV-CoV-2 polymer encapsulation protects RDV from plasma- mediated catabolism in vitro and in vivo, too. (ii) Body weight measurements of the normal (uninfected) rats after administration of the test materials (NV-CoV-2, and NV-CoV-2-R) show no toxic effects on them. (iii) NL-63 infected rats body weights and their survival length were like uninfected rats after treatment with NV-CoV-2 and NV-CoV-2-R, and the efficacy as an antiviral regimen were found in the order as below: NV-CoV-2-R > NV-CoV-2 > RDV.In brief, our platform technology based NV-387-encapsulated-RDV (NV-CoV-2-R) drug has a dual effect on coronaviruses. First, NV-CoV-2 itself as an antiviral regimen. Secondly, RDV is protected from plasma-mediated degradation in transit, rendering altogether the safest and an efficient regimen against COVID-19.

A New Antiviral Regimen Against SARS-CoV-2 Based on Nanoviricide’s Biopolymer (NV-CoV-2)

“…At both dose levels, treatment with NV-CoV-2 markedly extended the survival of the rats infected intratracheally with a lethal dose of human Cov-NL63 virus. More importantly, both treatments were better than RDV treatment alone (Diwan et al, 2021a). The efficacy of NV-CoV-2 on survival was also reflected in the body weight changes.…”

“…Pharmaceutical properties, formulations for injection, physical properties, and chemical properties are all available in bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.24.469813. (Diwan et al, 2021a; the full paper was submitted at PLoS One, and it is in press).…”

“…A viability assay was used to measure cell viability and determine the amount of cell death (CPE) caused by the virus. Relative CPE levels were compared between all groups to identify any reduction in viral replication, as a reduction in CPE compared to untreated infected controls suggests a decrease in virus production, growth, and spread (Diwan et al, 2021a).…”

“…The resulting material is different from liposomes, which are dynamic micelles. Polymeric chemical groups in our naonovircide are uniformly distributed allowing them to attach to virus-specific ligands such as peptides, antibody fragments, and various chemical moieties (Diwan et al, 2021a).…”