Synairgen, the respiratory drug discovery and development company which originated from research at the University of Southampton, has released positive results from its clinical trial of SNG001, its wholly-owned inhaled formulation of interferon beta, in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
“We are all delighted with the trial results announced, which showed that SNG001 greatly reduced the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients who progressed from ‘requiring oxygen’ to ‘requiring ventilation,’” said Richard Marsden, chief executive officer, Synairgen. “It also showed that patients who received SNG001 were at least twice as likely to recover to the point where their everyday activities were not compromised through having been infected by SARS-CoV-2. In addition, SNG001 has significantly reduced breathlessness, one of the main symptoms of severe COVID-19. This assessment of SNG001 in COVID-19 patients could signal a major breakthrough in the treatment of hospitalised COVID-19 patients. Our efforts are now focused on working with the regulators and other key groups to progress this potential COVID-19 treatment as rapidly as possible.”
The double-blind placebo-controlled trial recruited 101 patients from 9 specialist hospital sites in the UK during the period 30 March to 27 May 2020. Patient groups were evenly matched in terms of average age (56.5 years for placebo and 57.8 years for SNG001), comorbidities and average duration of COVID-19 symptoms prior to enrolment (9.8 days for placebo and 9.6 days for SNG001).
