NeuroRX and TFF Pharmaceuticals Announce Entering Into Feasibility Collaboration

RADNOR, Pa. and AUSTIN, Texas, March 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NeuroRx, Inc. and TFF Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: TFFP) are announcing that the companies have entered into a feasibility and material transfer agreement (Feasibility Agreement).  Under the Feasibility Agreement, NeuroRx is delivering ZYESAMI™ (aviptadil, synthetic VIP) materials to TFF in order to perform feasibility formulation work and testing. The goal of this feasibility work is to formulate and identify an optimal, long term-stable formulation of ZYESAMI™ in a dry powder form which has superior aerosol properties for delivery directly to the lungs.

ZYESAMI is a synthetic form of a naturally occurring peptide found in the lung called Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP), which is known to protect the Alveolar Type II cell that is targeted by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The symptoms of COVID-19 are attributable to decreased surfactant production and increased cytokine production caused by Coronavirus infection of the Type II cell.  This may also be a common pathway in sepsis-induced Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and Checkpoint Inhibitor induced pneumonitis associated with certain cancer drugs.

Loss of surfactant production in the lung may be the direct cause of the profound hypoxia or respiratory failure seen in COVID-19. The ability to deliver VIP directly to the lung via inhalation could have important therapeutic implications and potentially broaden the application of the drug to patients less severely affected with Covid-19.

"We are excited that ZYESAMI has demonstrated a highly significant reduction in time to hospital discharge for seriously ill Covid-19 patients treated with High Flow Nasal Oxygen, along with an increased likelihood of recovery and excellent safety," said Jonathan C. Javitt, M.D., M.P.H., CEO of NeuroRx. "Although our current production methods yield a drug that is sufficiently stable for emergency use, a long-term, shelf stable formulation will be needed for ongoing use of ZYESAMI, once the pandemic subsides. The thin film freezing technology holds great promise in potentially making this available to patients with other stages of Covid-19 with an inhaled form of ZYESAMI."

"The work being done by the NeuroRx team with ZYESAMI on behalf of critically ill patients with Covid-19 Respiratory Failure is both remarkable and gratifying," said Glenn Mattes, President & CEO of TFF Pharmaceuticals, "The potential opportunity to bring this important new therapeutic to patients earlier in the treatment cycle is exciting. We are very pleased to be collaborating with the NeuroRx Team with our thin-film freezing technology."

About VIP in COVID-19
Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide (VIP) was first discovered by the late Dr. Sami Said in 1970, for whom ZYESAMI™ is named. Although first identified in the intestinal tract, VIP is now known to be produced throughout the body and to be primarily concentrated in the lungs. VIP has been shown in more than 500 peer-reviewed studies to have potent anti-inflammatory/anti-cytokine activity in animal models of respiratory distress, acute lung injury, and inflammation. Most importantly, 70% of the VIP in the body is bound to a rare cell in the lung, the alveolar type II cell (ATII), that is critical in the production of lung surfactant that is essential to transmission of oxygen from the air to the blood by the pulmonary epithelial cells that line the air sacs (alveoli) of the lung. Initial radiographic changes in Covid-19 are suggestive of collapse of these alveoli.

Covid-19-related respiratory failure is caused by selective infection of the ATII cell by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The ATII cells are vulnerable because of their (ACE2) surface receptors, which serve as the route of entry for the virus. These specialized cells manufacture surfactant that coats the lung and is essential for oxygen exchange. Loss of surfactant causes collapse of the air sacs (alveolae) in the lung and results in respiratory failure.

VIP is shown to block Coronavirus replication in the ATII cell, block cytokine synthesis, block viral-induced cell death (cytopathy), and upregulate surfactant production. To our knowledge, other than ZYESAMI™, no currently proposed treatments for Covid-19 specifically target these vulnerable Type II cells. Recent laboratory findings suggest that VIP directly interferes with the spike protein complex of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

About NeuroRx, Inc. 
NeuroRx draws upon more than 100 years of collective drug development experience from senior executives of AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, and PPD. In addition to its work on ZYESAMI™, NeuroRx has been awarded Breakthrough Therapy Designation and a Special Protocol Agreement to develop NRX-101 in suicidal bipolar depression and is currently in Phase 3 trials. Its executive team is led by Prof. Jonathan C. Javitt, M.D., M.P.H., who has served as a health advisor to four Presidential administrations and worked on paradigm-changing drug development projects for Merck, Allergan, Pharmacia, Pfizer, Novartis and MannKind, together with Robert Besthof, MIM, who served as the Global Vice President (Commercial) for Pfizer's Neuroscience and Pain Division. NeuroRx recently announced a plan to complete a business combination with Big Rock Partners Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ: BRPA) ("BRPA") and intends to apply for listing on the NASDAQ under the proposed symbol "NRXP". For more information, visit www.neurorxpharma.com.

About TFF Pharmaceuticals' Thin Film Freezing technology platform
TFF Pharmaceuticals' Thin Film Freezing (TFF) platform was designed to improve the solubility and absorption of poorly water-soluble drugs and is particularly suited to generate dry powder particles with properties targeted for inhalation delivery, especially to the deep lung, an area of extreme interest in respiratory medicine. The TFF process results in a "Brittle Matrix Particle," which possesses low bulk density, high surface area, and typically an amorphous morphology, allowing the particles to supersaturate when contacting the target site, such as lung tissue. Based upon laboratory experiments the aerodynamic properties of the particles are such that the portion of a drug deposited to the deep lung has the potential to reach as high as 75 percent.

About TFF Pharmaceuticals
TFF Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative drug products based on its patented Thin Film Freezing, or TFF, technology platform. Early testing confirms that the TFF platform can significantly improve the solubility and absorption of poorly water-soluble drugs, a class of drugs that comprises approximately one-third of the major pharmaceuticals worldwide, thereby improving their pharmacokinetics. TFF Pharmaceuticals has two lead drug candidates: Voriconazole Inhalation Powder and Tac-Lac Inhalation Powder. The Company plans to add to this pipeline by collaborating with large pharmaceutical partners. The TFF Platform is protected by 42 patents issued or pending in the US and internationally. To learn more about TFF Pharmaceuticals and its product candidates, visit the Company's website at https://tffpharma.com.

Safe Harbor

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding TFF Pharmaceuticals, Inc., including the benefits of the Company's TFF platform and a potential its dry powder version of NeuroRx's ZYESAMI. Those forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially. Among those factors are: (i) the risk that NeuroRx and the Company may not be able to produce a dry powder version NeuroRx's ZYESAMI, (ii) the risk that NeuroRx and the Company may not be able to successfully conclude clinical testing or obtain pre-market approval of a dry powder version of NeuroRx's ZYESAM, (iii) no drug product incorporating the TFF platform has received FDA pre-market approval or otherwise been incorporated into a commercial drug product, and (iv) those other risks disclosed in the section "Risk Factors" included in the Company's prospectus supplement filed with the SEC on December 8, 2020. TFF Pharmaceuticals cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. TFF Pharmaceuticals does not undertake, and specifically disclaims, any obligation to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur, except as required by law.

Corporate Contacts

NeuroRx, Inc.
Jonathan C. Javitt, M.D., MPH
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
[email protected]

Media Contact:
NeuroRx (US):
David Schull
Russo Partners, LLC
[email protected]
858.717.2310

Investor Relations:
NeuroRx (US):
Brian Korb
Solebury Trout
[email protected]
917.653.5122

TFF Contacts:
Glenn Mattes
President and CEO
TFF Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[email protected]
737-802-1973

Kirk Coleman
Chief Financial Officer
TFF Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[email protected]
817-989-6358

Investor Relations and Media Contact:
Paul Sagan
LaVoieHealthScience
[email protected]
617-953-4779

SOURCE NeuroRx; TFF Pharmaceuticals

Related Links

www.neurorxpharma.com