Amid the raging coronavirus pandemic, PNB Vesper Life Science Private Limited on Friday received approval from the Drug Controller General of India to conduct the clinical trial of their drug on Covid-19 patients.
Speaking to IANS about the breakthrough innovation, CEO of PNB Vesper Life Science Private Limited P.N. Balaram said that this is a very big step for mankind in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The molecule has shown remarkable results in reducing lung inflammation and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
The Indian Pharma Research company claimed that if their propriety drug PNB-001 — Baladol — works successfully in Covid-19 patients, it would be the “first new chemical entity in the world for treatment of the disease”.
The drug has shown positive results in all the initial preclinical studies. The Phase 2, which would prove the efficacy of the molecule, will now be conducted at BMJ Medical College in Pune on 40 moderate patients on oxygen support, within 60 days.
“In Covid-19, the main symptoms are pyrexia, body pain and inflammation in the lung and we lose patients mainly because of cytokine storms and ARDS. We have proved in the pre-clinical studies, our drug is effective in reducing fever, body pain and inflammation,” said CEO Balram. He said that with the drug, the death rate also reduced to 80 percent, whereas Dexamethasone drug, currently the most popular medicine in COVID-19 treatment in the world, only gives 20 per cent death reduction.