Houston Chronicle by Gwendolyn Wu March 22, 2020
Houston researchers test lung inhalant that could protect healthcare workers from COVID-19
A Houston company is developing a drug that could protect people in close contact with patients who have COVID-19 from contracting the illness caused by the new coronavirus.
The drug, delivered as an aerosol known as PUL-042, was created by biopharmaceutical company Pulmotect, MD Anderson Cancer Center and Texas A&M, which have worked together to develop the drug for more than a decade. PUL-042 has been tested on mice and has had limited human trials in the United Kingdom and at that point would usually be at least a year away from approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
Pulmotect plans to launch clinical trials testing the safety and effectiveness of the drug in humans next week at Houston Methodist, the company said. If successful, it could request expedited approval in the next six months.
Pulmotect’s drug works by stimulating a thin layer of tissue that lines the inside of the lungs and training it to be hostile to invading pathogens. It differs from most vaccines because its effect is almost immediate, but temporary, while vaccines can take weeks to develop antibodies that can fight infections but that last for years, if not lifetimes.
Someone taking the PUL-042 would have to inhale it twice a week to maintain its effectiveness, said Dr. Burton Dickey, chair of pulmonary medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center and one of the leading researchers.
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