NanoViricides, Inc.
(OTC BB: NNVC.OB) (the "Company"), announced today that the herpes
simplex viral load was reduced by 99.99% or 10,000 fold in in-vitro studies
by nanoviricides™ drug candidates. The studies were performed by Thevac
in Baton Rouge, LA, in collaboration with the Division of Biotechnology and
Molecular Medicine at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine under the supervision
of Dr. Gus Kousoulas.
Four different nanoviricides showed greater than 10,000-fold (>99.99%) reduction
in virus quantity compared to untreated controls in a cell culture assay employing
the LSU proprietary green-fluorescent-protein-tagged (GFP) modified HSV-1 McKrae
strain.
These nanoviricide drug candidates are designed to act against all herpes simplex
virus strains, including HSV-1 and HSV-2. The Company has commissioned additional
in vitro studies to confirm the results. Animal studies have also been scheduled.
“We are very excited with this success against HSV-1,” said Eugene
Seymour, MD, MPH, CEO of the Company, adding “and expect this to lead
to a topical skin cream against herpes cold sores and genital herpes. This opens
up another significant commercial opportunity for the Company.”
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) causes “cold sores”, the incidence of
which is second only to the common cold (100 million recurrences annually in
the US alone). In addition, genital herpes prevalence is 67 million infected
individuals in the US alone. HSV also causes keratitis, a disease of the eye
(250,000 US cases/year).
Existing therapies include acyclovir and drugs chemically related to it. These
drugs, nucleoside analogs, act by inhibiting viral DNA synthesis. However, there
is known drug toxicity due to interference with human metabolism. Currently,
there is no cure for herpes infection.
Nanoviricides act by a novel and distinctly different mechanism compared to
existing drugs. Nanoviricides are designed to mimic the human cell surface to
which the virus binds. Our results suggest that a nanoviricide could become
a highly sought after drug against HSV.
The market size for herpes simplex virus treatments is in excess of $2 billion
annually.