Eisbach Bio receives EUR 8 million government grant to progress COVID-19 antiviral through Phase I/II clinical development
Eisbach Bio, a biotechnology company targeting the molecular machines that drive human disease, announced additional financial support from the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) for the clinical development of its first-in-class SARS-CoV-2 helicase inhibitor. The total funding of EUR 8 million will support the clinical development of the Company’s novel Covid-19 therapeutic following the recent completion of its preclinical development.
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Eisbach is using its allosteric inhibitor platform to develop selective drugs for the inhibition of complex molecular machines involved in serious diseases. In cancer, it has identified synthetic-lethal and oncogenic helicases as targets and developed small-molecule inhibitors targeting specific chromatin remodeling enzymes. Using its helicase expertise, the Company also developed an inhibitor of the SARS-CoV-2 helicase Nsp13, an RNA helicase critical for viral replication and the most conserved non-structural protein within the coronavirus family.
Eisbach’s CEO, Dr. Adrian Schomburg, commented: “We are very thankful to receive BMBF support for the clinical validation of our drug candidate, which allows for convenient oral administration. As the tablets can be easily manufactured and shipped, our drug candidate not only offers broad potential to alleviate disease symptoms, but also to globally reduce COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.”
Prof. Andreas Ladurner, Eisbach’s CSO, added: “Our drug blocks viral replication through a novel, targeted mechanism that is fully conserved across all known virus variants. We are determined to deliver a sustainable drug with a good safety profile that should allow treatment of anyone testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, especially high-risk patients.”
The antiviral adds to the Company’s original oncology pipeline, consisting of first-in-kind inhibitors for synthetic-le thal cancer targets. Eisbach is rapidly progressing its IND-enabling work and expects to initiate Phase I clinical trials for its COVID-19 asset in Q1, 2022.
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