Researchers at Shiv Nadar University in Noida have developed a molecule that could be used in the making of a drug to treat Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) or Acute Lung Injury (ALI), respiratory illnesses caused by COVID-19 and other infections such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.
The team, led by Dr Subhabrata Sen from the Department of Chemistry in the university and Professor Ralf Jockers, Institut Cochin (INSERM, CNRS, the University of Paris in France) devised a two-fold strategy to discover a set of New Chemical Entities (NCEs) which can treat the illnesses induced by COVID-19.
The strategy included:
1. Application of the NCEs to inhibit attachment, entry and infection of the new SARS-CoV-2 (virus causing COVID-19)
2. Co-administration of a known drug (that modulates a set of hormonal receptors in human) and these NCEs to mitigate ARDS caused by SARS-CoV-2.
Animals trials are expected to begin soon as a prelude to human trials, the press release mentions.
The discovery has come out of months of research conceptualizing small molecule modulators of a set of hormonal receptors in humans and how they are connected with potential receptors in the lungs that act as entry of SARS-CoV-2, SARS and MERS in the human host. Additionally, the researchers looked into the pathophysiological condition of lungs during respiratory failure. This included extensive investigations of lung specimens from patients who were retrospectively found to have COVID-19. Using these data, the researchers designed the project that helps in attenuating acute respiratory distress.
Commenting on the research, Dr Sen said, “We hope our therapeutic approach will unravel solutions against maladies associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome. Our aim is to conclude the preclinical studies by the end of this year, post which the new compound will potentially be ready for the next stage of development along with human trials."
The researchers have filed a provisional patent in India to protect the new chemical entities.
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