Development of Therapeutic Drugs for Novel Coronavirus Infection (COVID-19)
July 30, 2020
Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
announced today that it has decided not to enter into the development of ONO-5334, as a therapeutic drug for novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19),
which was reported as one of the promising compounds that suppresses the growth of novel coronavirus in human iPSC-derived pneumocyte-like cells in the English scientific journal “Nature” on July 24. In addition,
ONO will further promote the development of a proteinase inhibitor,
Foipan® (generic name: camostat mesilate) Tablets (“Foipan”) under the clinical development for the treatment of COVID-19.
While ONO-5334 had been developed by ONO as a drug candidate for the treatment of osteoporosis based on its inhibitory effect on cathepsin K, its development in the osteoporosis area was discontinued in 2012 comprehensively taking into consideration the competitive situation in the osteoporosis area and changes in the environment.
ONO-5334 has an inhibitory effect on cathepsins including cathepsin L, which is known as a potential enzyme involved in coronavirus infection.
According to the report in Nature,
ONO-5334 was identified as a potent compound to inhibit viral replication in several cells suggesting its possibility as a therapeutic drug for COVID-19. Also, it is known that the proteolytic enzyme TMPRSS2 is greatly involved in major infections of the COVID-19 causative virus SARS-CoV-2 in the lungs or airways.
https://www.ono.co.jp/eng/news/pdf/sm_cn200730.pdf