THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBING
Pharma Tech Outlook | Wednesday, June 16, 2021
A single injection of XVIR-110, Exavir’s unique nanocrystal formulation of NM2CAB, a cabotegravir stearoylate prodrug, supplied therapeutic cabotegravir exposures to mice, rats, and monkeys for over a year, according to the study.
FREMONT, CA: Exavir Therapeutics, a firm dedicated to improving the lives of HIV patients and those at risk of contracting the virus, announced the publishing of preclinical results for XVIR-110, an experimental antiretroviral being developed for HIV treatment and prophylaxis. Additional mechanistic, drug product stability, pharmacokinetic, and toxicological investigations were reported in Nature Communications to support XVIR-110’s profile as a possible best-in-class once-yearly antiretroviral treatment.
Stay ahead of the industry with exclusive feature stories on the top companies, expert insights and the latest news delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe today.
“These results demonstrate the two-part mechanism that enables the apparent ultra-long half-life of XVIR-110, as well as the rigor and reproducibility of our broader findings,” said Benson Edagwa, scientific co-founder, Exavir Therapeutics and Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Our agent is room-temperature stable, has been well-tolerated in animal studies, and can provide effective drug concentrations for over a year with a single injection.”
A single injection of XVIR-110, Exavir’s unique nanocrystal formulation of NM2CAB, a cabotegravir stearoylate prodrug, supplied therapeutic cabotegravir exposures to mice, rats, and monkeys for over a year, according to the study. The apparent ultra-long half-life was discovered to be predominantly owing to lipophilic nanocrystal dissolution, followed by pH-dependent or esterase-catalyzed XVIR-110 hydrolysis into cabotegravir. Preliminary toxicological investigations in all species studied revealed that XVIR-110 was well tolerated at all dose levels.
“The current treatment paradigm for HIV treatment and prevention consists of daily oral therapies that create opportunities for viral resistance, as well as an undue psychological burden for patients infected with HIV or at risk of acquiring HIV,” said Dr. Howard Gentlemen, scientific co-founder of Exavir Therapeutics and Professor of Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. There has been a resounding shift towards long-acting antiretrovirals in the HIV community. Although progress has been made in recent years, there continues to be a significant unmet need for injectable antiretrovirals with longer durations, and combination partners for the existing long-acting antiretroviral armamentarium.”
Integrase inhibitors are a family of medicines being studied as long-acting antiretroviral treatments along with capsid inhibitors and nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. The FDA recently approved a once-monthly long-acting injectable cabotegravir formulation combined with long-acting injectable rilpivirine for HIV treatment. In addition, two Phase 3 trials have revealed that an experimental once-every-eight-week long-acting injectable cabotegravir is superior to the standard of treatment in the pre-exposure prophylaxis setting.
More in News