NanoViricides, Inc. (NNVC)
NanoViricides, Inc. (NNVC) is a developmental stage company utilizing powerful proprietary nanomedicine technology to target commercially significant viral diseases. Currently, the company's primary programs include drug candidates to treat influenza, external eye viral diseases, HIV/AIDS, Oral and Genital Herpes and dengue viruses. Thus far, the company's anti-viral medicines, which it refers to as NanoViricides®, have demonstrated very high levels of effectiveness when compared to currently available methods of treatment.
The company's drug candidates are unique in the way that they combat dangerous viral illnesses. NanoViricides® work by fooling the virus to which they attach in a method that's similar to the way that the virus itself attaches to the receptors of surface cells. This allows the medication to surround and trap the virus, potentially eliminating the coat proteins needed to bind to cells and effectively neutralizing the virus without affecting the subject's immune system. This proprietary design counteracts the mutations that viruses use to render currently available antibodies and vaccines ineffective.
Currently, NanoViricides is conducting investigational new drug (IND) enabling studies on its Injectable FluCide™ Clinical Candidate, which is the last major step before clinical drug trials can begin. According to a recent press release, the company estimates that it has sufficient funding to perform initial clinical studies on at least one of its primary drug candidates, as well as to bring at least one other drug candidate into the IND enabling studies stage. This should put the company in a strong position to demonstrate the effectiveness of its drug platform prior to the need to seek additional funding moving forward.
In recent years, the overuse of antibiotics has caught headlines, highlighting the distinct ability of germs to outsmart today's drugs. The same is true for viruses, such as influenza, for which annual vaccines are common. According to the Center for Disease Control, though these treatment options can be helpful, in many cases, mutated strains of the virus still run rampant through communities, showing the crippling limitations of these prevention options. NanoViricides could be on the cusp of eliminating these limitations with its drug candidates. Since the binding site of a virus does not significantly change when it mutates, the company's drug technologies could, potentially, remain effective despite modifications to viruses' cellular makeups.
NanoViricides demonstrated the immense potential value of its platform recently by rapidly designing a new drug candidate to combat the Ebola epidemic. In just four months, the company was able to synthesize a broad-spectrum drug candidate that has been shown to maintain its effectiveness, even against mutations of the virus in the field. Though the recent Ebola outbreak is now waning, the epidemic has demonstrated a serious need for a therapeutic to control any further outbreaks. As the company continues to use its drug platform to address the needs of the medical community, near-limitless growth could be on the horizon.
With the company's Injectable FluCide™ candidate recently being highlighted as a 'Top Ten Infectious Diseases Project to Watch' by a panel of experts assembled by Informa and the publishers of In Vivo, Startup and The Pink Sheet, it's clear that the industry is beginning to take notice of the immense possibilities of the company's proprietary NanoViricides® technology. As it approaches clinical trials for its leading drug candidate, look for NanoViricides to make strides towards significant growth in the competitive medical market.