Aphios
Corporation Executes Cooperative Agreement with NIH and
USAMRID For Discovery of Novel Therapeutics Against SARS
and Other Coronaviruses
September
03, 2003
— Aphios
Corporation has executed a Cooperative Agreement with the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),
National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Army Medical
Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRID) to test
its library of molecules from unique marine microorganisms
for the prevention or treatment of Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) and other coronavirus infections
Human coronaviruses are responsible for the common “cold,”
accounting for approximately 30% of mild upper respiratory
tract illnesses, for which there is no cure. In March 2003,
a new, emerging coronavirus (SARS-CoV) was discovered in
association with SARS. Unlike the common cold, SARS may
result in severe respiratory problems and death. As of May
2003, more than 8,100 people have been infected with SARS
and the worldwide death toll has been 724 since the disease
emerged in November 2002. While the epidemic has been contained,
there exists the possibility for its re-emergence and increased
virulence. Additionally, there is still no cure for the
common “cold” that adversely impacts our quality-of-life.
Aphios plans to discover and develop novel anti-SARS and
anti-coronavirus drugs through the screening of its library
of marine molecules with NIAID and USAMRID.
Aphios has established a library of unique marine microorganisms
from diverse environments, including deep-sea sediments
to shallow water mangrove swamps, tropical waters to temperate
oceans, hydrothermal vents as well as normal saline conditions
to hypersaline ponds. The microbes are fermented in different
media designed to maximize the diversity of secondary metabolites
being generated. The biodiversity of our marine microorganism
library is further enhanced by selectively extracting secondary
metabolites with patented supercritical fluid microbial
cell disruption and fractionation technologies.
Testing of Aphios’ library of partially purified marine
molecules will be coordinated through Southern Research
Institute (SRI) in Birmingham, Alabama under a contract
from NIAID and USAMRID.
Aphios Corporation (www.aphios.com)
is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on natural solutions
for human health and quality-of-life medicines.
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