Moleculin Biotech (MBRX) today announced that 2-deoxy-D-glucose (“2-DG”) reduced the virus that causes COVID-19 by 100% in in vitro testing, according to independent research. On the news shares surged 155% in pre-market trading from $0.56 to $0.85.
Researchers at the University of Frankfurt disclosed the findings in their article submitted to NatureResearch on March 11, 2020. The authors of the research reported that inhibiting glycolysis with non-toxic concentrations of 2-DG completely prevented SARS-CoV–2 replication in Caco–2 cells.
Moleculin’s drug candidate, WP1122, is referred to as a “prodrug” of 2-DG as chemical elements are added to 2-DG to improve its delivery in vivo.
“This is the breakthrough we were looking for, only it came from an unexpected source,” commented Walter Klemp, CEO of Moleculin. “Normally, we wouldn’t have access to data like this until it is published, but the willingness of the authors to pre-release this data will help support our development of WP1122 for treating COVID-19.”
Moleculin’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Sandra Silberman added: “The FDA has cleared the way for very rapid development of COVID-19 therapies, so we should be able to move WP1122 into the clinics on an expedited basis.”
She also revealed that the drug has a very good safety profile in mice, and is now being tested on additional species before the company submits its IND (Investigational New Drug application).
Only two analysts have published recent ratings on MBRX- and both rate the stock a buy. Based on the outlook for Moleculin’s next generation anthracycline Annamycin, Oppenheimer’s Kevin DeGeeter published a buy rating with a $2 price target on April 2. That indicates further upside potential of 255%. (See MBRX’s stock analysis on TipRanks)
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