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Atossa Therapeutics Receives Approval to Open Clinical Study of AT-301 Nasal Spray Being Developed to Treat COVID-19
Enrollment Expected to Begin Within 30 days SEATTLE, Aug. 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Atossa Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATOS), a clinical-stage
About this update from Atossa Therapeutics, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Enrollment Expected to Begin Within 30 days\nSEATTLE, Aug. 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Atossa Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATOS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company seeking to discover and develop innovative medicines in areas of significant unmet medical need with a current focus on breast cancer and COVID-19, today announced that it has received approval from the ethics committee to open a Phase 1 clinical study in Australia using Atossa’s proprietary drug candidate AT-301, to be administered by nasal spray. All necessary approvals have now been obtained and enrollment is expected to begin in the next 30 days.\n “The most common entry point for the coronavirus is the nasal passage where the virus can infect locally for one to three days before progressing into the lungs,” commented Steven Quay, M.D., Ph.D., Atossa’s President and CEO. “Our nasal spray drug is being developed with a ‘vaccine-like mechanism’ to help maintain a protective mucosal barrier with anti-viral properties within the nasal cavity, hopefully leading to lower infectivity and reduced symptoms in COVID-19 patients. If this can slow virus growth sufficiently to allow the patient to mount a strong, natural immune response AT-301 could be very impactful on the current public health options for controlling COVID-19. We look forward to quickly opening enrollment in this important study and reporting results before the end of the year.” AT-301 is being developed for nasal administration in patients immediately following diagnosis of COVID-19 but who have not yet exhibited symptoms severe enough to require hospitalization. It is intended for at-home use to proactively reduce symptoms of COVID-19 and to slow the infection rate so that a person’s immune system can more effectively fight SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus). Atossa also intends to conduct testing to determine whether AT-301 can be used as a prophylaxis to prevent or mitigate SARS-CoV-2; for example, as a daily preventative treatment for people at higher-risk, such as frontline workers, military, emergency medical professionals, and hospital personnel. The study is a double-blinded, randomized, and placebo-controlled safety study of AT-301 nasal spray in 32 healthy adult subjects divided into two study groups. Part A consists of two single-dose cohorts receiving either active therapy, AT-301B, or the placebo...