Patients who took the drug during a Covid-19 trial had a 79% lower chance of developing a severe version of the disease than patients taking a placebo.
The drugs trial by UK company Synairgen was a Phase II double-blind placebo-controlled trial called SG016 recruited 101 patients from 9 specialists sites in the UK during the period 30 March to 27 May 2020.
It found that patients receiving SNG001 had a 79% lower risk of developing severe disease compared to placebo and additionally that patients who received SNG001 were more than twice as likely to recover from COVID-19 as those on placebo.
“We are all delighted with the trial results announced today, which showed that SNG001 greatly reduced the number of hospitalised COVID-19 patients who progressed from ‘requiring oxygen’ to ‘requiring ventilation’. It also showed that patients who received SNG001 were at least twice as likely to recover to the point where their everyday activities were not compromised through having been infected by SARS-CoV-2. In addition, SNG001 has significantly reduced breathlessness, one of the main symptoms of severe COVID-19. This assessment of SNG001 in COVID-19 patients could signal a major breakthrough in the treatment of hospitalised COVID-19 patients. Our efforts are now focused on working with the regulators and other key groups to progress this potential COVID-19 treatment as rapidly as possible.” said Richard Marsden, CEO of Synairgen.