Virpax Pharmaceuticals said that preclinical studies of the company’s Envelta (NES100) enkephalin nasal spray have not identified any toxicology issues in either rats or dogs. The company said that the results support further development of Envelta nasal spray for the treatment of pain, including cancer pain.
In February 2021, Virpax announced that pre-clinical studies of Envelta to support an IND submission had been initiated under an agreement with the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NCATS is continuing to perform the studies, which are funded by the NIH.
Virpax Executive VP and Chief Medical Officer Jeff Gudin commented, “These early data appear promising and support our continued quest for safe and effective pain and CNS therapies. We look forward to completing our final IND enabling studies.”
Chairman and CEO Anthony P. Mack said, “These preclinical data support and further strengthen the development of Envelta as a potential intranasal enkephalin for the management of cancer and non-cancer pain. We remain focused on the next steps so that we may submit an IND and then initiate a Phase 1 study in humans upon any potential FDA acceptance.”
Read the Virpax press release.
