BetterLife Pharma Inc. issued the following announcement on May 15.
BetterLife Pharma Inc. ("BetterLife" or the "Company") (CSE: BETR /OTCQB: PVOTF / FRA: NPAT) today announced that the journal Frontiers of Immunology ("Frontiers") released the results of the exploratory study on Treatment on a cohort of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Wuhan. The study can be found at https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.01061/full and an article summarizing the results of the study can be found at https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-treatment-interferon-2b-recovery-covid-patients.html
In the study, the authors examined the course of disease in a cohort of 77 individuals with con-firmed COVID-19 admitted to Union Hospital, Tongii Medical College, Wuhan, China, between January 16 and February 20, 2020. The individuals evaluated in this study consisted of only moderate cases of COVID-19.
The lead author of the study, Dr. Eleanor Fish, a researcher with Toronto's University Health Network and Professor, Department of Immunology, University of Toronto stated in an article published by Frontiers1 that "Interferons are our first line of defence against any and all viruses—but viruses such as corona-viruses have co-evolved to very specifically block an interferon response…this informs us of the importance of interferons for the clearance of virus infections. Treatment with interferon will override the inhibitory effects of the virus."
Dr. Eleanor Fish is further quoted in the article that "rather then developing a virus-specific antiviral for each new virus outbreak, I would argue that we should consider interferons as the 'first responders' in terms of treatment. Interferons have been approved for clinical use for many years, so the strategy would be to 'repurpose' them for severe acute virus infections…a clinical trial with a larger cohort of infected patients that are randomized to treatment with interferon-alpha or to a placebo would further this research."
Ahmad Doroudian, Chief Executive Officer of BetterLife commented "We support the views of Dr. Fish and are encouraged by the results of the study. This study and the comments of Dr. Fish validates the approach taken by the Company to advance with its intended clinical trials".
About BLife Therapeutics Inc.
BLife Therapeutics is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BetterLife Pharma Inc. focused on the prevention of severe COVID-19 disease.
BetterLife has an agreement pursuant to which BLife Therapeutics will acquire worldwide rights (other than in Greater China, Japan and ASEAN countries) to commercialize and sell AntiCovir, a potential COVID-19 treatment, from Altum Pharmaceuticals Inc. ("Altum"). The completion of the transaction is subject to certain conditions precedent. See the Company's press release dated May 7, 2020 for further information.
BetterLife Pharma Inc. is a science-based innovative medical wellness company aspiring to offer high-quality preventive and self-care products to its customers. For further information please visit abetterlifepharma.com
Original source can be found here.
