Lexaria Bioscience says DehydraTECH improved delivery in study animals

Lexaria Bioscience announced that its DehydraTECH technology significantly improved delivery in study animals of representative drugs from two classes of antiviral therapies under investigation against SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 and already in use against HIV/AIDS. These are the first two of a series of antiviral drugs to be tested using Lexaria's DehydraTECH technology. All animals demonstrated excellent safety and tolerability upon dosing with the DehydraTECH formulations, displaying normal activity and behavior throughout the study with no adverse effects. Lexaria plans to conduct expanded investigations into antiviral drug delivery enhancement and effectiveness beginning in January 2021. These plans include additional antiviral drugs that have already demonstrated usefulness in the fight against HIV/AIDS and are being investigated for use against COVID-19. This pilot study included DehydraTECH-formulated drugs administered via oral gavage to male Sprague-Dawley rats compared to concentration-matched controls of the same drugs without DehydraTECH formulation. The study was conducted in a total of 40 rats, broken down into four groups of 10 rats per test article. The drugs evaluated were a protease inhibitor, and a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor; each administered to the rats in a single dose of 10 mg/Kg in either the DehydraTECH formulation or the control formulation under fed study conditions. The study evaluated total drug delivery into the rodent bloodstream, whereby the rats were evaluated over a period of 24 hours post dosing to derive the measured AUC over the period, as well as the extrapolated theoretical maximum AUC expected to be achieved thereafter. The study's positive outcomes may have relevance both for the original antiviral therapeutic indications of the drugs that were studied as well as for additional antiviral drugs within their classes for indications including COVID-19. Drugs like darunavir and efavirenz are mainly used for treatment of HIV/AIDS, although their bioavailability alone in oral form is low at 37% and 45%, respectively. If confirmed through additional expanded testing, DehydraTECH could, in theory, improve this bioavailability rate to as high as 64% which could greatly enhance outcomes thus warranting continued investigation. Furthermore, other types of reverse transcriptase inhibitors like the nucleotide variant remdesivir have already been approved in some jurisdictions for treatment of patients with COVID-19, albeit presently limited to injectable administration due to poor oral bioavailability. Researchers worldwide are also actively evaluating various protease inhibitors that specifically target the main protease associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in pursuit of additional COVID-19 therapeutic options. If DehydraTECH demonstrates effectiveness in enhancing oral deliverability for compounds in these subclassifications of protease and reverse transcriptase inhibitors, it may hold promise for COVID-19 applicability as well, also warranting further investigation.