April 28, 2020 -- Scottish glycobiology firm Pneumagen said that its multivalent carbohydrate-binding modules (mCBMs) have shown positive antiviral activity for preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection in three separate in vitro studies.
The company said that its Neumifil lead product candidate and other mCBMs generated with its GlycoTarge platform blocked entry into airway cells for a range of viruses -- including SARS-CoV-2 -- that cause respiratory infections. A spinoff of the University of St. Andrews, Pneumagen said it worked closely with Public Health England's Porton facilities and the University of Glasgow's MRC Centre for Virus Research to test the activity of the mCBMs against coronaviruses using plaque reduction assays.
They found that the mCBMs reduced the number of SARS-CoV-2 plaques in these assays when used in both prevention and treatment of infection.