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Hoth Therapeutics Licenses Novel Peptide COVID-19 Therapeutic
Peptide Prevents Spike Protein Binding and Slows the Transmission of COVID-19 Technology and intellectual property is licensed exclusively from Virginia
About this update from Hoth Therapeutics, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Peptide Prevents Spike Protein Binding and Slows the Transmission of COVID-19\n Technology and intellectual property is licensed exclusively from Virginia Commonwealth University and invented by Michael H. Peters, Ph.D.\n\n\nNEW YORK, May 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hoth Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOTH), a biopharmaceutical company, today announced licensing technology and intellectual property exclusively from Virginia Commonwealth University (\"VCU\") for a novel peptide therapeutic to prevent spike protein binding, which may be a leading cause of COVID-19, and slow its transmission.\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \nThe research is being led by inventor Michael H. Peters, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering at VCU, College of Engineering, and is being aided, in part, by powerful supercomputers as part of the COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium through a virtual system that scientists can use to interactively share computing resources known as the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment. The consortium is a private-public partnership that includes the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and major technology corporations. \nSARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 attaches to and enters cells through the binding of its perfusion Spike Protein to the cell surface receptor Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2). ACE2 is a protein found on the surface of lung alveolar cells, cells of the small intestine, and arteriole cells making it highly dispersed throughout the body. Because of the wide-spread dispersion of ACE2 within the body, there are numerous opportunities for SARS-CoV-2 to infiltrate the body. \nThe spike in protein plays an important role in attaching to human cells and infecting the body. Researchers at VCU have developed at novel peptide that binds with extremely high affinity to SD1 segment of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein mimicking its attachment to ACE2. This high binding affinity helps block the spike protein from attaching to the ACE2 surface receptor, thus limiting the transmission of the virus. Further development of the novel peptide can also allow a novel target for the SARS-CoV-2.\nDr. Peters commented, \"The spike protein of the novel corona virus SARS-Cov-2 associated with the current COVID-19 pandemic uses a specific receptor on human epithelial cells, called ...