Qnovia, Inc., a pharmaceutical company specializing in the development of inhaled therapeutic products across various medical fields, has announced a collaborative effort with the University of Virginia (UVA) to advance innovative inhaled drug candidates designed to combat bacterial lung infections. In this partnership, Qnovia will be working closely with Dr. Molly Hughes and Dr. Matthew Crawford, both affiliated with the UVA School of Medicine, to combine Qnovia's RespiRxTM inhaled drug delivery platform with UVA's proprietary collection of antimicrobial peptides. The aim of this collaboration is to target antibiotic-resistant and biodefense bacteria that can lead to life-threatening infections. As a result of this collaboration, Qnovia will expand its development pipeline with two new assets: QN-05 for treating pneumonia and QN-06 for managing pulmonary infections in individuals exposed to the biodefense agent B. anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax.

Qnovia, expressed his enthusiasm for this partnership, believing that it holds the potential to offer significant therapeutic options for patients battling severe infectious diseases. He also sees this collaboration as a testament to the promise of their platform technology in enhancing patient outcomes across a diverse range of medical conditions.

Qnovia's inhaled drug delivery platform in combination with selected peptides. These studies confirmed the bactericidal efficacy of the peptides against clinically significant pathogens in vitro. The stability of the peptides, their efficient aerosolization, and the complete recovery of active pharmaceutical ingredients were also established when using Qnovia's platform. The development roadmap for QN-05 and QN-06 encompasses drug product formulation, stability testing, as well as safety and efficacy assessments in animal models. Furthermore, the collaboration will explore additional high-priority medical areas where UVA's bactericidal peptides can be delivered via inhalation using Qnovia's drug delivery platform.

Dr. Molly Hughes, Principal Investigator at UVA, highlighted the growing problem of multidrug-resistant bacteria, which pose a significant threat to global health by causing infections that current antibiotic therapies cannot effectively treat. She expressed excitement about the opportunity to investigate inhaled delivery methods to advance their peptides, ultimately improving the lives of patients struggling with challenging-to-treat bacterial infections.

Recently, UVA School of Medicine researchers published their findings on the antimicrobial regions of the human chemokine CXCL10 and have functionalized discrete peptide derivatives with therapeutic potential. These derivatives will be a subject of investigation under the current collaborative agreement.

In addition to the newly added assets, Qnovia's existing pipeline includes QN-01, an inhaled therapy for smoking cessation, QN-02 for asthma and COPD, QN-03 for pain management, and QN-04 for depression and anxiety.

 

Source: businesswire.com

Report Abuse