amendment to Canadian Treatments for COVID-19 TORONTO, Jan. 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arch Biopartners Inc. (“Arch Biopartners”, “Arch” or the “Company”) (TSX Venture: ARCH and OTCQB: ACHFF), a clinical stage company developing new drug candidates for treating organ damage caused by inflammation, announced today that the Research Ethics Board at the Sunnybrook Research Institue has approved the amendment to the CATCO protocol to include its lead drug candidate, LSALT Peptide (LSALT and “Metablok”) in a new arm of the CATCO human trial. CATCO leadership will now seek Health Canada approval before commencing the dosing of LSALT in the new arm of the trial.
About CATCO
CATCO is a multi-centre, adaptive, randomized, open-label, controlled study being conducted in up to fifty-five hospitals across Canada to find new treatments for patients suffering from the complications caused by COVID-19. CATCO is supported by the Canadian Network of COVID-19 Clinical Trials Networks which is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Sunnybrook Research Institute (SRI) is the sponsor of the CATCO trial and administers the trial across all sites in Canada. SRI has entered into a collaboration agreement with Arch Biopartners to use LSALT in a new arm of the CATCO trial. The Company’s primary responsibility during the trial is the supply of LSALT drug vials to support the dosing of up to approximately 350 patients.
About COVID-19
COVID-19 is the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that emerged in China in late 2019. Severe complications from COVID-19 are in large part due to excessive host immune responses to the virus that result in progressive lung inflammation and acute respiratory distress syndrome that often requires mechanical ventilation and critical care1. Patients with severe COVID-19 also experience multiple organ dysfunction including acute kidney injury, liver dysfunction, cardiac failure, and blood abnormalities.
Although vaccination has proved effective in limiting the severity of COVID-19, vaccine hesitation, limited vaccine access globally as well as the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants has perpetuated the global pandemic. Survival rates and health care system capacity could both be improved with new treatments that prevent the severe manifestations of COVID-19, such as worsening lung inflammation (ARDS) and AKI experienced by patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Targeting inflammation to lessen the severity of COVID-19 is a therapeutic strategy that should not be impacted by the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants.
1Wong, LY., Perlman, S. Immune dysregulation and immunopathology induced by SARS-CoV-2 and related coronaviruses — are we our own worst enemy?. Nat Rev Immunol (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-021-00656-2
About Arch Biopartners
Arch Biopartners Inc. is a clinical stage company focused on the development of innovative technologies that have the potential to make a significant medical or commercial impact. Arch is developing a pipeline of new drug candidates that inhibit inflammation in the lungs, liver and kidneys via the dipeptidase-1 (DPEP-1) pathway, relevant for multiple medical indications.
For more information on Arch Biopartners, its technologies and other public documents Arch has filed on SEDAR, please visit www.archbiopartners.com
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/01/04/2360656/0/en/Research-Ethics-Board-approves-amendment-to-Canadian-Treatments-for-COVID-19-CATCO-Trial-to-include-LSALT-Peptide-Metablok.html