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Zentek and McMaster Announce Positive Results for Aptamer-Based Technology with Therapeutic Potential
GUELPH, ON / ACCESSWIRE / July 20, 2023 / Zentek Ltd. (" Zentek " or the " Company ") (NASDAQ:ZT...
About this update from Zentek Ltd.
[{"type":"text","content":"Zentek and McMaster Announce Positive Results for Aptamer-Based Technology with Therapeutic PotentialGUELPH, ON / ACCESSWIRE / July 20, 2023 / Zentek Ltd. (\"Zentek\" or the \"Company\") (NASDAQ:ZTEK)(TSXV:ZEN), a technology development and commercialization company, is pleased to announce, further to its press release dated May 19, 2022, that its aptamer platform under global exclusive license from McMaster University (\"McMaster\") has been successfully tested as a potential prophylactic or therapeutic for SARS-CoV-2 in pre-clinical animal models. In repeat trials, the aptamers developed by Dr. Yingfu Li demonstrated similar efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 when benchmarked against a commercial monoclonal antibody.This new aptamer, based on a novel approach, was developed under the exclusive worldwide 20-year license agreement between Dr. Li's lab at McMaster and Zentek first announced on June 17, 2021.Pre-Clinical TrialsDr. Yingfu Li's team developed a series of aptamers with high-binding affinity with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. In February 2023, the best performing aptamer against all variants of SARS-CoV-2 was tested in vitro to assess the neutralizing of the virus by the aptamer in Vero cells. With strong results, Zentek was motivated to move into in vivo trials.Dr. Matthew Miller, the Canada Research Chair in Viral Pandemics and the director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute of Infectious Disease Research designed and supervised all of the pre-clinical trials. The first pre-clinical trial included three groups of mice: (i) Group A, which was a control group and received no prophylactic treatment, (ii) Group B, which received a commercial monoclonal antibody that was a leading antibody for the original SARS-CoV-2 strain until it was rendered ineffective due to antigenic changes in Omicron sublineages,and (iii) Group C, which received an aptamer designed by Dr. Li's team. All groups were infected with SARS-CoV-2. After four days, the mice that received the antibody and aptamer treatment had minimal weight loss, while the control group had a 10% body weight decline. In addition, the viral burden of the control group was measured at 10,000 PFU per lung. Significantly, the viral burden was undetectable in the lungs of the mice treated with the antibodies or the aptamer.Based on these promising results, an additional trial was...