Announcing new Phase 2b results for the company’s experimental COVID-19 therapy, S-217622, Japanese drugmaker Shionogi & Co. (OTCPK:SGIOY) (OTCPK:SGIOF) said that the once-daily oral treatment led to a rapid clearance of the virus in a trial conducted in Asia.
The Phase 2b part of the Phase 2/3 trial was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study designed to evaluate the antiviral effect and clinical symptom improvement of the protease inhibitor among 428 patients with mild/moderate COVID-19 symptoms in Japan and South Korea.
According to the company, the data showed that on day four following the third dose of the therapy, the percentage of patients with positive virus levels declined by nearly 90% compared to the placebo.
In the treatment arm, the viral shedding also declined by 1-2 days compared to the placebo group. While there was no significant difference in the total score of 12 COVID-19 symptoms between the treatment arms, a composite score of five “respiratory and feverish” symptoms showed an improvement for S-217622.
In terms of safety, S-217622 was well-tolerated with few drug-related discontinuations in both Phase 1 and 2a/b parts of the trial.
A global trial for S-217622 is currently underway to support regulatory filings for this year.
According to data analytics firm Airfinity, Shionogi (SGIOY) could generate as much as $2.5 billion in sales from its oral COVID-19 therapy in 2022.
Read more on the data for S-217622 from the Phase 2a part of the Phase 2/3 clinical trial.