New In Vitro Model Supports Further Testing of CFS/AIDS drug Ampligen as an Intranasal Prophylactic to Prevent COVID-19
OCALA, FL / ACCESSWIRE / August 27, 2020 / AIM ImmunoTech Inc. (NYSE American:AIM) is pleased to announce that it has identified an effective in vitro model at The Institute for Antiviral Research at Utah State University for testing Ampligen, a dsRNA TLR3 agonist, and the results show that Ampligen was able to decrease SARS-CoV-2 infectious viral yields by 90% at clinically achievable intranasal Ampligen dosage levels. This result supports AIM's goal of developing an intranasal prophylactic approach using Ampligen to prevent COVID-19.
"We are pleased with these results, as they establish Ampligen's bio-activity against SARS-CoV-2 as well as support our decision to test Ampligen in humans as an intranasal prophylaxis and early-onset therapy against COVID-19," said AIM CEO Thomas K. Equels.
The 3D-mucociliary tissue culture of normal, human-derived tracheal/bronchial epithelial cells sufficiently models some of the key innate immune responses needed to demonstrate Ampligen's prophylactic effect on SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The 90% effective concentration (EC90) of Ampligen observed in this tissue culture model is clinically achievable in human subjects to presumptively decrease SARS-CoV-2. Currently, there is a lack of an adequate animal model and therefore the company utilized the USA-WA1/2020 strain of SARS-CoV-2 in a 3-D, in vitro model of normal, human-derived tracheal/bronchial epithelial cells. The results show that Ampligen was able to decrease SARS-CoV-2 infectious viral yields by 90% at clinically achievable intranasal Ampligen dosage levels. This result supports AIM's goal of developing an intranasal prophylactic approach using Ampligen to prevent COVID-19.
Ampligen is believed to be a powerful positive modulator of human innate immunity and therefore the best measure of efficacy will be obtained in animal and human experimentation utilizing a living, in vivo, innate immune system.
