Oyagen, Inc. Publishes Study On Its OYA1 As A "Highly Effective" Experimental Drug Candidate For Treating Infections By The Ebola Virus

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Jan. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- OyaGen, Inc. announced today publication in VIRUSES, a peer reviewed journal, of studies carried out by OyaGen in collaboration with NIH/NIAID Integrated Research Facility at Fort Detrick MD.  This Study identified OYA1 as a "highly effective" antiviral against several viruses including Ebola and Lassa viruses.

Bennett et al., A Novel Ebola Virus VP40 Matrix Protein-Based Screening for Identification of Novel Candidate Medical Countermeasures.' (2021) Viruses 13:52 https://doi.org/10.3390/v13010052

About OYA1. OYA1 (a.k.a. sangivamycin) has broad-spectrum antiviral activity in laboratory-based assays against several viruses. The published study results showed that OYA1 was "highly effective" in reducing the spread of Ebola Virus infection in laboratory tests with the live Ebola virus carried out by NIAID.  The data also suggest that OYA1 could be significantly more potent than Gilead Science's remdesivir. In vitro studies showed that when OYA1 is dosed with remdesivir both compounds are markedly more effective inhibiting Ebola virus replication and do so at much lower doses than is needed with either compound alone.  OYA1 proved equally effective in stopping Ebola infectivity when it was added at the time of infection or 24 hours after an infection.

OYA1 was previously tested by the National Cancer Institute for its potential to treat a variety of cancers in the 1960's.  In those earlier clinical trials, 88 men, women and children received a range of doses and a dose frequency up to 120 days with no adverse side effects.  OYA1 was abandoned as a drug candidate for cancer because it had no effect in reducing tumor burden.  Preclinical animal safety studies also performed in the 1960's and recently repeated by OyaGen identified safe dose ranges and showed the OYA1 was retained in the tissues of the body for several days at concentrations approximately half of the original dose.  OYA1 has a simple chemical synthetic pathway starting with readily available compounds and  is stable as a dry powder for years.

Dr. Harold Smith, founder and CEO of OyaGen said that: "The newly published findings are very encouraging and suggest that OYA1 may be a highly effective treatment candidate for Ebola and Lassa infections. OyaGen's lead drug candidate for Ebola may also improve the efficacy of remdesivir in treating Ebola infections as combination therapy and thereby also may reduce the potential emergence of drug resistant viral strains that are often seen when only one treatment modality is used to combat infectious diseases." "The published data are consistent with prior published studies that show when OYA1 concentrations were high enough to suppress cell growth in the lab, it slowed cell division (cytostatic) but did not kill the cells. These findings are consistent with human clinical trials that showed that the OYA1 is safe and well tolerated in humans. We also noted that in comparing the data reported in our publication to the clinical trial data from the 1960s that the amount of OYA1 anticipated to be required to inhibit greater that 90% of virus replication appears to be at the lower doses of drug than were given to human subjects during the cancer clinical trials.

OyaGen Inc is a privately held Biotechnology Company located in Rochester NY.  OyaGen is focused on the identification and preclinical development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of viral diseases including HIV, Coronavirus and Ebola.

For more information on OyaGen, Inc., please visit the company's website at www.oyageninc.com and follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OyaGeninc, or call OyaGen, Inc. at (585) 697-4351. The studies reported were supported in part by OyaGen, Inc and in part through the Battelle Memorial Institute's former prime contract with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under Contract No. HHSN272200700016I and Laulima Government Solutions, LLC's current prime contract with NIAID under Contract No. HHSN272201800013C (S.Y., J.L.). C.L.F., E.N.P., Y.C., J.D., and J.H.K. performed this work as former employees of Battelle Memorial Institute and current employees of Tunnell Government Services (TGS), a subcontractor of Laulima Government Solutions, LLC under Contract No. HHSN272201800013C.

SOURCE OyaGen, Inc.

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