31 July 2020 - - US-based biopharmaceutical company Constant Therapeutics' peptide drug TXA127, a pharmaceutical formulation of the natural human peptide angiotensin-(1-7), will be tested in a Phase 2 clinical trial at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York, New York, the company said.

The double-blind, placebo-controlled trial will recruit 100 patients with COVID-19 who require oxygen but are not in the ICU. The endpoints include incidence of renal failure and incidence of respiratory failure.

TXA127 is a Mas receptor agonist and has been shown in various animal models of lung injury to reduce inflammation, stabilize endothelial and epithelial barriers and reduce fibrosis.

Constant previously announced plans for three additional Phase 2 trials at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts; Policlinico S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital in Bologna, Italy; and at sites in Israel affiliated with Bar-Ilan University and Technion Israel Institute of Technology.

TXA127 is a pharmaceutical formulation of the naturally occurring human peptide angiotensin-(1–7). In addition to its specific effects in lung injury, TXA127 has shown therapeutic activity in animal models of chronic stroke, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Limb–Girdle Muscular Dystrophy, Congenital Muscular Dystrophy (MDC1A), Marfan Syndrome and Epidermolysis Bullosa.

Constant Therapeutics LLC is a private biopharmaceutical company developing drugs that target the alternative renin angiotensin system, the protective arm of the renin angiotensin system.

This protective pathway involves the enzyme ACE2, its principal product, the peptide angiotensin-(1-7), and the peptide's target, the Mas receptor. Constant's lead drug candidate is TXA127.