New Published Evidence of Apabetalone’s Beneficial Effects on COVID-19

Apabetalone treatment reduces SARS-CoV-2 infectivity and completely prevents cardiac damage in a cytokine-storm model

CALGARY, Alberta, March 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Resverlogix Corp. ("Resverlogix") (TSX:RVX) and QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute (“QIMR Berghofer”), one of Australia’s most successful medical research institutes, announced today the publishing of a new article providing evidence of apabetalone’s potential benefit on SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). The article, titled: “Bromodomain and Extraterminal Inhibition Blocks Inflammation-Induced Cardiac Dysfunction and SARS-CoV-2 Infection (Pre-Clinical)”, was published on the pre-print server, bioRxiv, at the request of the reviewing scientific journal.

The publication can be viewed using the following LINK.

“We are excited that we can finally share publicly some of the incredible early results of our collaborative COVID-19 research program,” said Donald McCaffrey, President and CEO of Resverlogix. “Not only does apabetalone treatment reduce SARS-CoV-2 infection in cardiomyocytes, but it also prevents cardiac dysfunction induced by cytokine-storm. These findings showcase the unique dual-mechanism of apabetalone as a potential therapeutic for COVID-19 and provide strong support for human trials.”

“I would like to commend our collaborators at QIMR Berghofer whom it has been a pleasure to work with,” said Dr. Ewelina Kulikowski, Senior Vice President, Research & Development at Resverlogix and a co-author of the article. “Collaborations such as this serve to quickly move our research forward for the benefit of patients.”

Repurposing Drugs to Treat COVID-19

“Many re-purposed drugs have failed in clinical trials for COVID-19,” said Associate Professor James Hudson, head of the Cardiac Bioengineering Research Group at QIMR Berghofer. “We sought a different approach to firstly understand mechanistically how COVID-19 could be driving cardiac dysfunction seen in many patients. After detailed studies we identified bromodomain-containing protein 4 as a key mediator of dysfunction and BET inhibitors were very effective at blocking this response. In the pursuit to translate these findings to the clinic, we formed a very exciting collaboration with Resverlogix to test apabetalone, which we also found was very effective in our models. It was a pleasure to work with Resverlogix and truly share information both ways, and contribute data for the basis of their clinical trials.”