Finnish company receives US patent for Covid containing ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine | Yle news
The coronavirus drug developed by Therapeutica Borealis, a Turku-based pharmaceutical company, has received a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The nasal spray contains, among other things, hydroxychloroquine.
Earlier in May, the company announced that it had received approval for a patent application on the basis of which it expected a final patent this month.
“The final patent is an important milestone for us on our journey to market. Our next goal is to find a well-established pharmaceutical company with international business, ”says the professor Kalervo Väänänen, one of the three inventors and founders of Therapeutica Borealis, in a press release on Monday. Väänänen is a cell biologist and former rector of the University of Turku.
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The inventors of the drug and the founders of Therapeutica Borealis are Lauri Kangas, Docent of Science at the University of Turku, and Matti Rihko, psychologist, Chairman of the Board of the Turku Chamber of Commerce and the University of Turku. He is also a former CEO of Raision Food Ltd, known for its cholesterol-lowering Benecol products.
According to the company, nasal spray affects the function of cells in the nasal mucosa in three ways, impairing the virus’s ability to penetrate and multiply in the body, reducing the risk of serious disease.
Another Finnish pharmaceutical company, Rokote Laboratories, has developed a coronavirus vaccine in nasal spray form, but it has been difficult to obtain funding.
“Addressing a pandemic is likely to require a preventive or early-acting drug in addition to a vaccine. This drug also helps especially in a situation where vaccine coverage threatens to remain too low for the herd’s immunity, ”Väänänen said.
The WHO warned against the use of ivermectin except in clinical trials
According to the company, the active ingredients of the drug – aprotinin, hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin – are known and widely used drugs, but in this product they are used in a new, targeted way on the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract.
All drug molecules covered by the patent are approved for the treatment of other diseases, but if used systemically, for example as pills or ingested by patients, the amounts of drugs would be large and potentially harmful.
In topical use, such as nasal spray, the levels of active ingredients throughout the body remain very low, but are sufficient locally to prevent the transmission and multiplication of the virus, making the drug safer and more effective, Therapeutica Borealis says.
Aprotinin is a protease inhibitor, while ivermectin is an antiparasitic and hydroxychloroquine has been used for malaria – and the Brazilian president has advertised it as a treatment for Covid-19. Jair Bolsonaro and the former president of the United States Donald Trump among others.
Earlier this year, ivermectin maker Merck said “there is no scientific basis for a potential therapeutic effect against Covid-19” and “no relevant evidence of clinical activity or clinical efficacy in Covid-19 patients.”
In March, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the use of ivermectin in Covid-19 patients, with the exception of clinical trials, because of no data on its benefits. The European Medicines Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration issued similar warnings. However, it has been used for Covid patients in countries such as South Africa and India.