Global Pandemic Creating Opportunities for Drug Companies to Earn Positive Market Attention

FN Media Group Presents Microsmallcap.com Market Commentary

NEW YORK, Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In the last 18 years, viral disease epidemics have killed almost 600,000 people across the globe. Today's pandemic is quickly adding to the number of deaths while seriously disrupting economies, businesses, and the health of millions. In the middle of all the chaos are pharmaceutical companies that health experts and the public have turned to for hope. As the New York Times put it, "one lesson from this pandemic is how dependent we are for our survival on an innovative and robust pharmaceutical industry." In response, pharma leaders are stepping up to meet the diverse needs of their target markets, such as Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) developing new potential vaccines and treatments, and AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN),Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD), and Cardiol Therapeutics Inc. (TSX: CRDL) (OTCQX:CRTPF) leveraging existing drugs to address the pandemic.

Cardiol Therapeutics Leveraging its lead Drug to Address Surprising Market Need

China and Italy were hit early by the pandemic. Early reports from those two countries pointed to a troubling and puzzling effect that has since been seen around the world: while the pandemic was primarily known for its respiratory threats, up to 20% of pandemic patients were found to be suffering heart damage, with many dying of cardiac arrest. The effect was even present in people without pre-existing heart conditions.

In response, Cardiol Therapeutics (TSX: CRDL) (OTCQX: CRTPF) announced it filed a patent application on May 6, 2020, covering the potential use of their drug CardiolRx to improve the outcome of pandemic patients by protecting them from heart damage. Only two months earlier, Cardiol signed an exclusive supplier agreement for CardiolRx with Canada's leading drug store retailer, Shoppers Drug Mart.

Cardiol Therapeutics' President and CEO, David Elsley, said that the company's strategy to develop CardiolRx for patients with heart failureis now taking on new meaning: "We look forward to the possibility of investigating the anti-inflammatory properties of our extra-strength CardiolRx formulation in patients affected by the pandemic who have cardiac injury, with the hope of significantly improving patient outcomes."