by Rossella Tercatin
XPOVIO was developed for treating patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma and is already FDA approved for this purpose.
A drug that has shown promising results against coronavirus is going to be tested in four hospitals in Israel as part of a global trial involving some 40 clinical centers.
The
drug, Selinexor, or XPOVIO as it is currently marketed in the US, was
developed by oncology-focused pharmaceutical company Karyopharm
Therapeutics. The company was co-founded by Israeli scientist Sharon
Shacham in 2008. It is based in the US but maintains a regional office
in Israel.
XPOVIO was developed for treating patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. It is FDA approved
for this purpose. However, it has the potential to be a tool to fight
the coronavirus, and clinical trials are needed to assess its
effectiveness, according to Anat Haas Mizrahi, Karyopharm’s Israel
general manager; and Dayana Michel, its senior medical director.
“In our research, we are committed also to develop drugs for additional purposes,” Haas Mizrahi told The Jerusalem Post.
“One of the studies was focused on viral diseases, and we tested the
drug for several of them. When the coronavirus emerged, we decided to
look into our data and information, and we realized that there was an
option that could be applicable for treating COVID-19, so we started
looking into it.”
About
a month ago, the company began to work around the clock on the
treatment, realizing that the drug had the potential to disrupt the
replication of the virus and to mediate anti-inflammatory effects,
including respiratory infections. Tests were carried out on several
animal models.
“With
XPOVIO we can target COVID-19 both at the antiviral and at the
anti-inflammatory levels, which would reduce the disease burden in all
aspects important to the patient population,” Michel told the Post.
“In
order to verify that our understanding was correct, we carried on two
studies on animals whose infection resembles the modeling of human viral
infection, and what we have seen is that in two different experiments
the production of the virus was inhibited by 90% at a low dosage,” she
said.
The clinical trial on patients has started across the US and
Europe. It will involve 230 patients, selected by hospitals as suitable
and who agree to be part of the test.
“We
look for patients who are in serious conditions but not yet intubated,
because we believe that this is the window where we can have an impact,”
Michel said, adding that the treatment includes taking the drug orally
three times a week for two weeks, a period that can be extended up to a
month if needed.
Among
the Israeli centers involved are Hadassah-University Medical Center in
Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem, Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer and
Soroka-University Medical Center in Beersheba.
“It
seems that the innovative mechanism of the drug developed by Karyopharm
can affect the viral and inflammatory processes in the body,” said
Prof. Nimrod Maimon, a specialist in internal medicine and pulmonology
at Soroka.
“I hope
it can help corona patients, and I’m eager to see the results of the
experiment,” he said, according to a company press release. “Selinexor’s
mechanism has proven effective for various diseases, and also in
consideration of the high safety profile of the drug, the decision of
testing it also in viral disease is right and important.”
Karyopharm expects the clinical trial to be completed in about three months.
It is too early to know what will happen next, Haas Mizrahi said.
“We will need to receive all the data from the trial first,” she said.
The testing was approved by the Health Ministry and the Central Ethical Committee in Israel.
Carrying out the trial in Israel was very important for Karyopharm, Haas Mizrahi said.
“We are very committed to the Israeli community,” she said.
Source: https://www.jpost.com/health-science/coronavirus-drug-to-be-tested-on-patients-in-israel-625674
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