ViralClear Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of BioSig Technologies (NASDAQ: BSGM), submitted an IND application to the FDA to conduct a Phase 2 clinical trial of merimepodib for the treatment of COVID-19.
Merimepodib is a broad-spectrum antiviral agent that demonstrated a 98% decrease of COVID-19 viral production in vitro. It has previously been studied in 12 clinical trials, including five trials in patients with hepatitis C and one trial in patients with psoriasis.
ViralClear plans to initiate the Phase 2 placebo-controlled study at three Mayo Clinic sites. The trial will enroll some 20 adults with advanced COVID-19 who will receive oral merimepodib every eight hours for 10 days.
“We are very pleased that the Mayo Clinic institutional review board committee has approved our protocol,” Dr. Jerome Zeldis, ViralClear’s executive chairman, said a statement.
“We are now waiting for the submitted IND to be [cleared] before we can commence the trial,” he added.
