Cellvera Supports Oxford University and the UK Department of Health and Social Care With Expansion of the PRINCIPLE Trial

DELAWARE CITY, Del., April 11, 2022 (Newswire.com) - Cellvera, a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing antiviral therapies across a broad spectrum of infectious diseases, holds exclusive worldwide rights directly to Qifenda 400mg, 800mg as well as the IV presentation and through its affiliates, Avigan 200mg. This broad-spectrum oral antiviral treatment targets COVID-19 and 11 different classes of infectious diseases.

The Platform Randomised Trial of Treatments in the Community for Epidemic and Pandemic Illnesses (PRINCIPLE) is one of the world's largest clinical trials of possible COVID-19 treatments for recovery at home and other non-hospital settings. The trial is supported by a vast network of healthcare professionals in care homes, pharmacies, NHS 111 Hubs, hospitals, and more than 1400 GP practices across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

In April 2021, the University of Oxford announced that PRINCIPLE would investigate Avigan 200mg (Favipiravir). Led by University of Oxford researchers, PRINCIPLE has been a national priority platform trial for COVID-19 treatments and was set up with the intention that drugs shown to have an important clinical benefit could be rapidly introduced into routine NHS care. 

Cellvera has contracted with the University of Oxford and the Department of Health and Social Care to supply Qifenda 400mg (Favipiravir), enabling up to a further 1,000 participants with mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19 to receive this treatment. The support of Cellvera represents a saving of more than 600,000 GBP to the UK government. 

Mary O'Brien, CEO of Cellvera, said: "Cellvera emerged as a new global biopharmaceuticals company, focused on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies within the antiviral space, and Favipiravir is the first line of our defense against Covid-19, and results in trials show that it can relieve symptoms within a few days. The increasing number of patients being administered Avigan and Qifenda, and with the largest safety data from any current anti-viral treatment worldwide, puts us on the front line in the fight against COVID-19 and future pandemic preparedness. We are delighted to support Professor Butler and the dedicated researchers at Oxford University in their work to find solutions to help people with COVID-19 symptoms get better quickly and stop them from needing to go to the hospital."

Dr. Richard Kaszynski, Chief Medical Officer of Cellvera, said: "When patients are hospitalized with COVID-19, we've already lost half the battle. Oral antivirals like Qifenda provide clinicians with the means to fight COVID-19 in the communities and possibly prevent hospitalizations or death. I have seen firsthand that this medicine provides doctors with the means to fight COVID-19. As an emergency care physician with extensive experience using favipiravir, I have witnessed first-hand the immense potential the drug represents under appropriate administration and am confident that it will become a potent addition to our existing armamentarium in the fight against COVID-19. Our near-term goal is to establish Test & Treat programs globally. Cellvera is currently negotiating with a leading Indian and UAE-based diagnostic company and we will unveil forthcoming plans shortly."

PRINCIPLE trial Co-lead Investigator, Chris Butler, a GP, and Professor of Primary Care at the University of Oxford's Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, said, "Viruses need human cells to multiply and survive, and favipiravir blocks the complicated molecular dance that happens between a virus and our cells when the virus is replicating. Early treatment in the community could have the furthest reach and impact here. Diminishing the burden on hospitals and getting people to recover quicker through using antiviral drugs early on in the illness in the community is the next exciting frontier in the research effort against COVID-19."

Source: Cellvera