Cocrystal Pharma, Inc. (COCP) stock prices stayed stable over the course of the market day on June 17th, 2021. Subsequent pre-market fluctuations have seen the stock climb by 3.85%, bringing it up to USD$1.35.
CDI-45205
The company announced on June 14th, 2021 that it had successfully demonstrated that its lead preclinical Covid-19 3CL protease inhibitor CDI-45205 is active against SARS-CoV-2, as well as two of its primary variant strains. The company contracted a third party lab to conduct in vitro studies designed to evaluate the antiviral activity of CDI-45205 and its analogs in VeryE6-eGFP cells that were infected. Infected cells were affected by the Wuhan strain, the United Kingdom strain, and the South African variant.
Scope of CDI-45205
CDI-45205 and its analogs exhibited exceptional antiviral activity against each of the variant strains, going so far as to surpass the activity observed with the Wuhan strain. The FDA-approved Covid-19 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase inhibitor, remdesivir, and PF-00835231, a second protease inhibitor, were both reference inhibitors that the study was compared against. Results demonstrated CDI-45205’s excellent activity against the UK variant, with an EC50 of 1.9 uM, while activity against the South African variant exhibited an EC50 of 2.5 uM. As absence of a P-glycoprotein efflux, inhibitor is assumed in both cases.
Cumulative Growth
The company intends to continue conducting research into antiviral activity against other emerging variants, such as the up-and-coming Indian strain. The latest disclosed results add to the growing body of preclinical data findings of CDI-45205. Evidence suggests the new data implies the use of the protease inhibitor as an effective treatment of the coronavirus and its variants that have taken the world by storm for over a year now. Furthermore, company scientists continue to use COCP’s proprietary structure-based drug discovery platform technology to facilitate the investigation of broad-spectrum oral protease inhibitors and replication inhibitors for the treatment of Covid-19.
Agreement with KSURF
CDI-45205 was announced to have been selected by COCP on December 2020 as its lead Covid-19 development candidate. It was picked from a group of protease inhibitors that came into COCP’s possession through an exclusive license agreement with Kansas State University Research Foundation, which was announce earlier in 2020.
Future Outlook for COCP
With the world hurtling towards universal immunizations in the interest of a return to economic and social normalcy, COCP is primed to capitalize on the urgent demand for coronavirus treatments around the world. Current and potential investors are hopeful that management will continue to leverage the resources at their disposal to facilitate significant and sustained increases in shareholder value.
