RELIEF Therapeutics Holding AG (OTCMKTS: RLFTF) has announced that the parent company of its US partner NRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: NRX) has confirmed the validation of a commercial aviptadil formulation for intravenous use. This will allow for high volume production with an expected one year or more stability under the ideal storage condition.
NRx successfully validates new aviptadil formulation
NRx CEO Jonathan Javitt said, “When we began developing aviptadil for treatment of COVID-19, we discovered that the original RLF-100 formulation and manufacturing method had only a few weeks of stability, leaving hospitals unable to stock the investigational medicine in pharmacies, and leaving aviptadil out of consideration for national strategic stockpiles. Moreover, the high cost of peptide and an inability to manufacture more than 100 grams a month limited the commercial utility of aviptadil.”
Aviptadil has the potential of helping COVID-19 patients
While NRx continues to seek Emergency Use Authorization in the US, the breakthrough new formulation and production scaleup of aviptadil permits it to relaunch the Expanded Access and Right to Try initiatives. The initiatives are designed to give patients who are at the highest risk of dying from SARS-CoV-2 and who have exhausted all other treatment choices the opportunity to try aviptadil on an experimental basis.
Relief Therapeutics Board Chairman Raghuram Selvaraju said, “We are pleased that our collaboration partner has reported that it has developed a formulation of aviptadil that it reports is suitable for commercial distribution. Despite the increase in the number of people being fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with emerging variants and disparities in vaccination rates, there remains a major need for effective therapeutic options for patients with respiratory failure. We are excited about the potential that aviptadil holds in helping critical COVID-19 patients and are hopeful that the drug candidate will soon be available to those who remain in need of better treatments.”
