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The Ghent biotech company Exevir receives 3 million euros in subsidies from Flanders and is ready to treat a first corona patient with its virus inhibitor.
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After more than a year of work, the virus inhibitor from Exevir is ready in the refrigerators of three Belgian hospitals. It is still waiting for a suitable patient who meets all the criteria to be treated with the experimental drug.
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The intention is to follow up 27 patients in a first study, but due to the relatively low number of hospital admissions, there is no evidence to quickly find patients who meet all the conditions. The study will measure Exevir’s effectiveness in hospitalized patients whose virus is relatively mild.
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Our latest findings demonstrate the potential of our treatment to neutralize all variants in circulation.
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In a second study, Exevir is targeting 250 patients. In the meantime, Exevir is also making all preparations to expand the study to include the UK and Italy, where the infection rates are rising rapidly.
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Exevir, a spin-off of the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology, has already shown in petri dishes and in hamsters that its drug can neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 virus. After injection, the drug binds to a particle of the crown protein of the virus. The virus then loses its key to entering body cells, preventing it from multiplying.
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The essence
- Exevir developed a drug to neutralize the coronavirus in hospitalized patients. That drug would work with all variants in circulation.
- Exevir is poised to test its product in humans for the first time.
- The start-up has already collected 42 million euros in capital and is looking for another 100 million euros this year and next.
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Exevir also showed that the drug (codenamed XVR011) can handle new variants, including the rapidly advancing delta variant, without any problems. “Our latest findings demonstrate the potential of our treatment to neutralize all variants in circulation. The drug shows the greatest potential in its class.”
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