U of M researchers working on COVID therapy

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This article was published 20/08/2020 (1491 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As companies across the world rush to produce a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, the University of Manitoba is partnering with a Toronto firm to produce a therapeutic solution it hopes will put an end to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Toronto-based Theralase Technologies Inc. told the Free Press Friday the partnership “couldn’t be a more perfect fit.”

Using specialized compounds that actively kill cancer cells, bacteria and viruses, the company says its patented chemicals are being tested and researched in Manitoba labs to create an “elegant solution to the destruction of some very nasty pathogens.”

If successful, Theralase hopes to commercialize the technology for mass-scale production as early as late 2021.

Dr. Kevin Coombs, a leading microbiologist at U of M who’s spearheading the research, says he’s never seen anything like it.

“This technology is showing absolutely amazing high efficacy kill rates, both with and without stimulation,” he said.

Theralase’s proprietary technology — dubbed “photo dynamic compounds” or PDCs — are completely non-toxic and safe for normal cells. They produce a destructive form of oxygen that is able to destroy pathogens from the inside out, while leaving healthy cells unscathed.

“Part of what makes the whole thing so special is that it’s unique in being not exactly a vaccine, but more of a therapy,” Coombs explained.

“Vaccines are an incredibly important health benefit, but they won’t help everyone — simply because not everyone has the proper immune system to make them work. That’s why therapeutic measures like this are equally important to work in a complimentary fashion.”

Details shared with the Free Press from the research agreement between Theralase and U of M show plans to use proprietary chemicals as a vaccine (prevention from contracting COVID-19) and as a therapeutic (treatment of a patient who has already contracted COVID-19).

To do this, Coombs is using his past research on viruses such as H1N1 Influenza, Zika and other novel viruses to determine an exact methodology that can be used to administer the treatment on humans.

“I think it’s also very special that we don’t really even need to insert the PDCs directly inside a human being,” he said. “We can take samples of blood and saliva to treat the virus in it and then safely insert that back in — isolating the fear of any toxicity entering the body.”

Dr. Arkady Mandel, chief scientific officer at Theralase, says the company’s support to create quick timelines for the project are “game-changing.”

He said he hopes to complete preliminary research as early as October, with small animal analysis by mid-2021 — based on which Theralase could begin human clinical studies later in the year.

In order to meet those timelines, Chief Financial Officer Kristina Hachey says they’re funding all initial research out of pocket.

“In the global race for the COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutic,” Hachey said Theralase “may not be first to the market.”

“But we have full confidence that our PDC technology will provide one of the safest and most effective COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutic.”

 

Twitter: @temurdur

Temur.Durrani@freepress.mb.ca