Claritas to Expand R-107 Program to Include Treatment of Sepsis, the Leading Cause of Death in COVID-19 Patients

SAN FRANCISCO and TORONTO, April 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Claritas Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (TSX VENTURE: CLAS and OTC: KALTF) (the "Company" or "Claritas") today announced that, based on significantly positive results in a controlled large animal model of sepsis, the Company will now expand its R-107 development program to include the treatment of COVID-19 related sepsis, the leading cause of death in COVID-19 patients.  

Highlights 

• Claritas is currently developing R-107 for the treatment of viral infections, including vaccine-resistant COVID-19. 
• Claritas will also now expand this program to include development of R-107 for the treatment of COVID-19 related sepsis. 
• Sepsis is the leading cause of death in COVID-19 patients, with a mortality rate of 30% - 40%.¹
  

Positive Results with R-107 in Treatment of Sepsis in Ovine Model of the Disease

Under the leadership of Professor Perenlei Enkhbaatar at the University of Texas Galveston Medical Branch, sepsis was induced in 22 adult female Merino sheep by intravenous administration of the gram-negative bacillus Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This infection model produces a highly reproducible and rapidly lethal form of septic shock that precisely mimics the clinical presentation in human patients of cytokine storm, acute lung injury, loss of vascular tone, severe oxidant stress and multiple organ failure. Although rodent models are useful in the study of novel therapies for sepsis, the demonstration of efficacy in a large animal model, such as in sheep, is more predictive of results in the human clinical setting, and is a necessary step in the advancement of any novel treatment for viral sepsis in man. A control group consisted of 13 sheep that were treated with an intramuscular injection of saline. The results of this study unequivocally demonstrated that R-107 treatment reduced mortality, with 11% mortality noted among those sheep treated with R-107 versus 30% mortality observed among those sheep in the control group. R-107 therapy significantly decreased lung injury, eliminated oxidant stress and preserved multi-organ function. There were no adverse effects observed in response to R-107 treatment. Taken together, the observations that R-107 is highly effective and safe in this large animal model provide critical support for the Company’s development of R-107 for COVID-19 related sepsis.