27 May 2020 - - US-based biotechnology company Anivive Lifesciences has filed a pre-Investigational New Drug request with the Food and Drug Administration for GC376, a candidate for the treatment of COVID-19 in humans, the company said.

Since 2018 Anivive has been developing GC376 to treat the leading cause of death in kittens and young cats, Feline Infectious Peritonitis, a disease caused by a coronavirus.

GC376 was identified as a promising therapeutic candidate by AniviveSELECT, Anivive's AI-powered software that accelerates the drug discovery process by analyzing and learning from a massive collection of drug data compiled from over 300 sources.

GC376 is a protease inhibitor. Like all coronaviruses, FIP and SARS-CoV-2 contain a protease which is responsible for replication of the virus. GC376 successfully blocks the replication process.

Internal and third-party research suggests that GC376 is also highly active against the protease in SARS-CoV-2, 3CLpro, that causes COVID-19.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Anivive was working with their existing GMP manufacturers to meet regulatory requirements and have since accelerated production to provide GC376 for human clinical trials.

Anivive remains dedicated to developing GC376 for veterinary patients but, given the current pandemic and scarcity of effective therapies, is also exploring the use of GC376 in humans to help combat COVID-19.

The FDA will guide Anivive on the proposed clinical study protocol. Anivive then plans to submit an IND application for GC376 to be evaluated as a potential addition to the current standard of care treatment for COVID-19.

GC376 is a novel, first-in-class, small molecule protease inhibitor with a favorable therapeutic index demonstrated in preclinical studies.

A common feature of viruses in the picornavirus-like supercluster (including coronaviruses) is a 3C or 3C-like protease (3Cpro or 3CLpro, respectively) responsible for viral replication.

Viruses in this family include human coronavirus 229E, transmissible gastroenteritis virus of swine, murine hepatitis virus, bovine coronavirus, feline infectious peritonitis virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2).

GC376 has been shown to be a potent inhibitor of this protease across all coronaviruses with a high therapeutic index.

Anivive is a next-generation pet health drug discovery and commercialization company that dramatically improves the speed and cost of addressing unmet medical needs in pets.

Using a novel technology and analytics platform, Anivive discovers first-in-class therapeutics for unmet conditions in pets.

Anivive has in-licensed the global development and commercialization rights to 5 mid/late stage product candidates and holds exclusive rights to several others.

Anivive is currently seeking FDA conditional approval for verdinexor (a canine lymphoma investigational therapeutic) and A conditional license for canine Valley Fever investigational vaccine.

More than 1m dogs succumb to canine lymphoma annually and there are over 30m dogs at risk for Valley Fever in the US.

Anivive continues to develop a mid-stage therapeutic for feline infectious peritonitis. FIP is caused by a feline coronavirus that kills 700,000 cats annually.

FIP is fatal within a matter of weeks and has no approved treatments.

Anivive has repurposed GC376 to help combat COVID-19 while maintaining their commitment to bring the product to the veterinary market.