Moleculin Says WP1096 Molecule To Be Evaluated In NIAID-Funded Animal Studies

(RTTNews) - Moleculin Biotech, Inc., (MBRX) announced Tuesday that its WP1096 molecule, a WP1122 Portfolio compound, will be evaluated in animal studies as novel potential antiviral through the preclinical services offered by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases or NIAID, part of the National Institutes of Health.

The clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on highly resistant tumors and viruses is studying WP1096 as a novel potential therapy for a broad spectrum of viruses, including arenaviruses. WP1096 is expected to target and therapeutically impact glycolysis and glycosylation processes in host cells and viruses.

The company noted that WP1096 molecule is a part of its WP1122 portfolio of D-glucose and D-mannose antimetabolites, which is designed to exploit, amongst other uses, the potential uses of monosaccharide decoys as a means to inhibit glycolysis and alter glycosylation.

Moleculin is currently conducting a Phase 1 trial of analog WP1122 (a prodrug of 2-DG) in healthy volunteers in preparation for a Phase 2 trial in COVID-19 patients.

The WP1122 molecule is a prodrug of 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), and 2-DG has been approved outside the US for use as a treatment for COVID-19.

Moleculin said it is not currently able to allocate significant resources to the development of WP1096 between its antiviral effort with WP1122 and a range of oncology focused initiatives.

However, considering the promising WP1096 in vitro activity in a range of potentially deadly viruses previously demonstrated, Moleculin believes that WP1096 would be a good candidate for animal testing in arenavirus models where there is a significant unmet need.

The NIAID-funded animal studies will be with the Tacaribe arenavirus, a BSL-2 (bio safety level 2) virus and will be used as an indication of activity and as a means to optimize the animal testing protocol.

Moleculin said it intends to revise its current development strategy to accelerate development work on WP1096 if it demonstrates significant efficacy in the requested animal studies.

Walter Klemp, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Moleculin said, "The results of WP1096 preliminary studies show a broader spectrum of antiviral activity than 2-DG against hemorrhagic fever viruses (i.e., Argentine hemorrhagic fever, Marburg, Ebola and others), an area of significant unmet need, thus encouraging us to pursue advancing its development. We are grateful for this opportunity to take a step forward in unlocking further potential of the compounds within our WP1122 portfolio."

For More Such Health News, visit rttnews.com