The Directors of Biotron Limited (ASX: BIT) have recently announced that the Company has finally commenced a Phase 2 human clinical trial with its lead antiviral drug dubbed as BIT225. Authorities from the company said that the antiviral drug is intended for patients inflicted with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1) infection. Apart from eradicating HIV, scientists have explained that BIT225 will also target a class of virus protein known as viroporins which have caused worldwide health issues such as Dengue, Hepatitis B, Ebola, Influenza and Zika.
Biotron's Success In HIV Trial
According to reports revealed by Proactive Investors Australia, the trial will be undertaken at HIV-NAT, within the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre in Bangkok, Thailand. Researchers have explained that the said trial will also be a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study of BIT225 and combination antiretroviral therapy or cART particularly in patients with HIV-1 infection. Additionally, as part of the process, and at the trial's conclusion, patients will remain on cART as per standard treatment protocols.
Furthermore, as per PharmiWeb Online, HIV-NAT is an internationally acclaimed research organization. It was found that its core research areas basically includes pharmacokinetics of HIV-1 therapy, co-infections with Hepatitis B, tuberculosis and HPV, new drug development and strategic studies. As experts have revealed, the primary objectives of the said trial is to determine the efficacy of 12 weeks of BIT2 25 treatment in HIV-1 infected subjects who were apparently receiving cART by measuring plasma viral load decay and modeling HIV-1 decay; and as well as determine the safety and tolerability of BIT225, which will allegedly be administered once a day for 12 weeks in HIV-1 infected subjects on cART.
The Future Plans Of Biotron
Meanwhile, it was found that at the commencement of the BIT225-009 clinical trial builds on the recent announcement made by Biotron regarding the successful results obtained from BIT225 in a humanised mouse study of HIV-1 infection. Researchers of the study has highly emphasized that BIT225 plays an essential role in the eradication of HIV-1 by targeting and clearing HIV- 1 from cellular reservoirs. Ultimately, Biotron is said to be expecting to see early results from the trial in late Q3 2017.
