Drug development company NeuroRx Inc and RELIEF THERAPEUTICS Holding AG (SIX:RLF) (OTCQB:RLFTF) announced on Monday that it entered into a Clinical Trial Participation Agreement with the Quantum Leap Healthcare Collaborative of San Francisco for the inclusion of ZYESAMI (RLF-100:aviptadil) in the I-SPY COVID-19 Clinical Trial.

Quantum Leap is reportedly the sponsor of the I-SPY COVID-19 Trial, a platform trial that is assessing multiple drugs for the treatment of patients with Critical COVID-19 who are hospitalized or in intensive care units.

ZYESAMI is a formulation of Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide (VIP), which is highly concentrated in the lungs, where it inhibits coronavirus replication, blocks the formation of inflammatory cytokines, prevents cell death and upregulates the production of surfactant. It will be included as one of the first drugs targeting respiratory failure in critically ill COVID-19 patients, said the partners.

The companies revealed the inclusion of ZYESAMI in the I-SPY COVID-19 Trial follows a request from the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense for investigational drugs capable of targeting the most acutely ill patients with COVID-19.

I-SPY is a platform COVID-19 clinical trial that is designed to rapidly identify those agents that have a large impact on reducing disease severity, including reduced mortality, reducing or avoiding time on ventilation and other longer-term comorbidities. Patients receive one of several products being studied and the results then are compared to the current standard of care, concluded the companies.