UK biotech discovers two potential Covid-19 treatments

A UK-based biotechnology firm has discovered two new treatments that could help remove the need for a ventilator for certain Covid-19 patients.

ILC Therapeutics are seeking £4 million to accelerate safety studies and clinical trials for two treatments which could prevent Covid-19 induced Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).

The company has patented a new Interferon-Alpha subtype, called Interferon Alpha 14, which can be administered to patients through injection or inhalation.

Interferons are naturally occurring proteins that are created and secreted by cells within the body’s immune system. ILC Therapeutics states that Interferon Alpha 14 is the most potent antiviral interferon that exists and requires very small doses for treatment.

The treatment works by boosting the body’s Natural Killer cells (NK cells) which fight the virus to prevent an immune overreaction which can cause fatal damage to the lungs – known as a Cytokine Storm. This can prevent the onset of ARDS, which remains the leading cause of Covid-19 deaths, and potentially reduce the need for ventilators.

Currently, there is just one alpha interferon that has been used in Covid-19 patients in China, with limited success. ILC Therapeutics states that its Interferon Alpha 14 is more effective due to its stronger antiviral properties and since it can be given at much lower doses, will limit long-term side effects.

ILC Therapeutics is also working with the University of Oxford to develop molecules derived from ticks that can extinguish a Cytokine Storm in the body once it has already advanced. Known as Evasins, this treatment could give Covid-19 patients who have already developed ARDS a better chance of survival.

The company is working with professor Shoumo Bhattacharya, professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and BHF chair at the University of Oxford on the project.

He said: “Evasins have proven pre-clinical efficacy against chemokines, which are important components of cytokine storms, and I am excited that their potential for managing Covid-10 cytokine storms will be studied.”

Dr Alan Walker, CEO of ILC Therapeutics said: “I am delighted at the prospect of joining this ambitious company at a crucial time in the fight against Covid-19. It is remarkable that a small, biotech start-up of this size would have discovered not one but two novel treatment methods, and I want to help charter the course as we hopefully bring these treatments to clinical trials fast and work to save lives.

“There has been much talk within the scientific community of Interferon Alpha 2, but this is not an effective treatment method and frankly has stalled further interferon research by decades. ILCT’s Interferon Alpha 14 could prevent the need for patients to be put on ventilators by boosting their innate immune systems as the virus progresses. We have seen that few patients survive once they are put on ventilators, so the quicker we can develop this treatment in a safe and scalable way, the better.”