Sound pharmaceuticals has obtained a grant of $1.1m from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) unit National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) for the development of an oral treatment of COVID-19, ebselen (SPI-1005). The grant will allow two trials of the said drug on 120 individuals suffering from moderate or severe levels of COVID-19. Ebselen has anti-viral as well as anti-inflammatory properties, belonging to the class of anti-inflammatory compounds with glutathione peroxide activity. SPI-1005 is still under scrutiny and is being investigated for neurotological, respiratory, and neuropsychiatric indications. Along with the COVID-19 trials, the drug is also undergoing Phase III testing trials for Meniere’s Disease, and tobramycin ototoxicity in cystic fibrosis patients that deal with respiratory infections.
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