Last summer, Synairgen’s shares soared 300% in a study showing that the inhaled form of interferon beta-1a was developed to treat COVID-19, reducing patients’ chances of developing a serious form of the virus. would progress.
But there was a big shadow over the results: it is known that Interferon increases the levels of the cell surface protein ACE2, which serves as the entry point for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This raised the fear that treatment with interferon would eventually fail in the treatment of the coronavirus.
Now, researchers led by the University of Southampton, which is collaborating with Synairgen in developing its drug, have discovered that interferon increases levels of a short form of ACE2 that SARS-CoV-2 cannot penetrate into cells. In fact, it could have a protective effect, the team reports in the journal Nature Genetics.
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The short form of ACE2 that the British researchers discovered does not have a specific binding site that SARS-CoV-2 needs to enter healthy cells. Because this short version of the protein increases in response to interferons – but not to SARS-CoV-2 – the researchers believe that it is somehow involved in the body’s natural immune response to viruses.
“We were excited to discover a new form of ACE2, and became even more interested when we [realized] it may be protective against SARS-CoV-2 in the airways rather than an access point for infection, “said Jane Lucas, a professor at the University of Southampton, MD, in a statement. Two of the co-authors of the study , Donna Davies, Ph.D., and Ratko Djukanovic, MD, are co-founders and shareholders of Synairgen, which was spun out of the university.
Investors applauded Synairgen when preliminary data from the 101st patient study showed that its interferon drug SNG001 reduced the risk of progression to severe COVID-19 by 79% above placebo. An update of the results increased the company’s shares by another 30% in November, when the company reported that 75% of patients using SNG001 showed a clinical improvement on Day 15/16, measured by ‘ an important scale of World Health Organization.
The discovery of short ACE2 could have consequences for more than just Synairgen, the authors argued in the new study. The researchers’ ability to distinguish between the two versions of the protein may provoke ideas for more sophisticated coronavirus treatments.
The University of Southampton-led team is now planning further studies to investigate the implications of short ACE2 on the management of COVID-19.
In December, Synairgen announced that it was launching a Phase 3 trial of SNG001 in the UK and that the FDA had granted highway status to the drug and cleared it for US studies.