According to Union therapeutics, the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge have begun recruiting kidney patients for a clinical trial of Union’s UNI91103 intranasal niclosamide for the prevention of COVID-19 in vulnerable patients. The PROTECT-V (PROphylaxis for vulnerable paTiEnts at risk of COVID-19 infecTion) trial is expected to enroll a minimum of 1,500 subjects who will receive either UNI91103 or a placebo in addition to usual care. The company is also developing a niclosamide DPI for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
Lead investigator Rona Smith of the University of Cambridge aid, “Finding effective agents for treatment and prophylaxis is crucial for our ability to manage COVID-19 infection. We identified niclosamide as a promising option, and we look forward to testing it in this very critical patient population. The vaccine is a huge step forwards, but we know that the patients enrolled in this study may make less robust vaccine responses due to their underlying condition or treatment. Niclosamide may provide further protection against COVID-19 that doesn’t rely on the immune system mounting a response.”
Read the Union Therapeutics press release.
