Infectious diseases company Pneumagen (Holdings) Ltd on Wednesday announced GBP4m in investment led by Thairm Bio, Scottish Investment Bank (SIB) to progress the company's lead candidate, Neumifil into a clinical trial for COVID-19.

Neumifil is a first-in-class Carbohydrate Binding Modules (mCBMs), generated using Pneumagen's proprietary GlycoTarge platform. It is being developed for the universal treatment of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) caused by Influenza Virus and Respiratory Syncytial Virus and now coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19.

The investment follows exciting data from Pneumagen's pre-clinical studies in COVID-19 using plaque reduction assays. The testing conducted at Public Health England's (PHE) Porton facility and from the University of Glasgow's MRC Centre for Virus Research, demonstrated efficacy in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection.

(USD1=GBP0.82)