SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Anixa
Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANIX), a biotechnology company focused
on the treatment and prevention of cancer and infectious diseases,
today announced that it and partner OntoChem GmbH have verified
that one of their recently discovered compounds is similar in
potency to remdesivir, the only approved anti-viral drug against
SARS-Cov-2. As previously announced, Anixa and OntoChem had
identified multiple compounds that could disrupt the function of a
viral enzyme called an endoribonuclease (also known as
Non-Structural Protein-15, or NSP-15).
Remdesivir is a pro-drug whose metabolite interferes with a
SARS-CoV-2 enzyme, RNA-Polymerase. Similarly, Anixa's lead
compound interferes with the function of another SARS-Cov-2 enzyme,
NSP-15, the noted endoribonuclease. NSP-15 is needed by the
virus to process its RNA, it's genetic code. Interfering with
this enzyme makes it impossible for the virus to replicate.
The comparison of potency with remdesivir was conducted in a human
cell line by measuring IC50 in an assay known as a
plaque reduction assay. IC50 is a standard measure
of the amount of drug needed to inhibit replication (production of
plaques) of the virus by 50%.
"Through medicinal chemistry modifications we feel we can
improve this compound's potency even more. In the next few
months, we will be testing the in vivo potency of this
compound in an animal study," stated Dr. Amit Kumar, President and CEO of Anixa.
"While we are all excited about the development of Covid-19
vaccines, we still do not know how long immunity is conferred by
vaccination, nor do we know what will happen should the virus's
spike protein mutate, like the flu virus."
Dr. Kumar added, "Therapies such as remdesivir, monoclonal
antibodies and dexamethasone are required to be administered by
injection in a hospital setting. Our compound, should it
reach the market, is expected to be taken as a pill by patients
infected by SARS-CoV-2, to eliminate the disease before symptoms
require hospitalization. At the current time, there are no
Covid-19 medicines that can be taken in an outpatient
setting. Accordingly, we feel there is a need for
inexpensive, orally administrable medicines for this viral
infection."
Dr. Lutz Weber, CEO of OntoChem,
stated, "Our team includes Anixa Biosciences, my team at OntoChem,
a team of organic synthetic chemists in Austria and a national laboratory in
Italy with a biosafety level 3
(BSL-3) laboratory and capabilities for animal studies. We
began this project with Anixa from scratch and are pleased that our
collaboration has led to a very potent anti-viral compound.
While we take our first compound into proof-of concept animal
studies, we will continue synthesizing and testing additional
promising compounds."
About Anixa Biosciences, Inc.
Anixa is a
publicly-traded biotechnology company developing a number of
programs addressing cancer and infectious disease. Anixa's
therapeutics portfolio includes a cancer immunotherapy program
which uses a novel type of CAR-T, known as chimeric endocrine
receptor T-cell (CER-T) technology, and a Covid-19 therapeutics
program focused on inhibiting certain viral protein function. The
company's vaccine portfolio includes a vaccine to prevent breast
cancer, and specifically triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), the
most deadly form of the disease, and a vaccine to prevent ovarian
cancer. These vaccine technologies focus on immunizing
against specific proteins that have been found to be expressed in
certain forms of cancer. Anixa continually examines emerging
technologies in complementary fields for further development and
commercialization. Additional information is available at
www.anixa.com.
Forward-Looking Statements: Statements that
are not historical fact may be considered forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not
statements of historical facts, but rather reflect Anixa's current
expectations concerning future events and results. We
generally use the words "believes," "expects," "intends," "plans,"
"anticipates," "likely," "will" and similar expressions to identify
forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements,
including those concerning our expectations, involve risks,
uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond our
control, which may cause our actual results, performance or
achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from
any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks,
uncertainties and factors include, but are not limited to, those
factors set forth in "Item 1A - Risk Factors" and other sections of
our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K as well as in our
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K.
We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, except as required by law. You
are cautioned not to unduly rely on such forward-looking statements
when evaluating the information presented in this press
release.
Investor contact:
Mike Catelani
mcatelani@anixa.com
408-708-9808
Media contact:
Sherry Ash
anixapress@gmail.com
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SOURCE Anixa Biosciences, Inc.