WPD Pharmaceuticals Reports Active Compound in Licensed Drug Candidate Reduces Coronavirus Replication in Vitro by 100%

To develop in collaboration with CNS Pharmaceuticals antiviral drug candidates licensed from Moleculin Biotech for the international markets

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WPD Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CSE: WBIO)(FSE: 8SV1) (the “Company” or “WPD”) a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, is pleased to announce that independent research on its WP1122 drug compound found 2-deoxy-D-glucose (“2-DG”) to reduce replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, by 100% in in vitro testing. WPD in collaboration with its development partner CNS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“CNS”)(Nasdaq: CNSP) intends to develop several preclinical drug candidates including WP1122, which will be tested on a range of viruses including the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

WPD has licensed rights to a portfolio of drug candidates, including WP1122, through its license partner, Moleculin Biotech, Inc. (“Moleculin”)(Nasdaq: MBRX). Recently, researchers at the University of Frankfurt disclosed the findings in their article submitted to NatureResearch on March 11, 2020 (Bojkova, D et al; DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-17218/v1) (https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-17218/v1). The authors reported that inhibiting glycolysis with non-toxic concentrations of 2-DG completely prevented SARS-CoV–2 replication in Caco–2 cells.  Glycolysis is a process by which cells convert glucose into energy and infected (host) cells are induced by viruses to dramatically increase their dependence on glycolysis.  2-DG inhibits glycolysis because, although it appears to cells to be glucose, it is in fact a decoy that cannot be converted into energy.

WP1122 is referred to as a “prodrug” of 2-DG whereby chemical elements are added to 2-DG to improve its delivery in vivo.  Once administered, these added elements are removed by normal metabolic processes and what remains is 2-DG. As a result, 2-DG is the active compound in WP1122.  In chemical terms, it is referred to as the active “moiety” (subpart) of WP1122.

“We are excited with this breakthrough on our WP1122 drug candidate and the early implications are that it could have positive effects on reducing the spread of COVID-19,” commented Mariusz Olejniczak, CEO of WPD. “I would like to commend our license partner, Moleculin and the researchers at the University of Frankfurt for their expedited work and the willingness of the authors to pre-release this data will help support our development of WP1122 for treating COVID-19.”