NanoViricides, Inc. (NYSE American: NNVC) announced that independent analyst Robert LeBoyer of Noble Capital Markets has initiated research coverage of the clinical-stage antiviral drug developer with an “Outperform” rating and a $6.00 price target. The report reviews the company’s lead programs, including its broad-spectrum antiviral candidate NV-387, along with longer-term development initiatives. NanoViricides noted that while it provided publicly available information and answered technical questions, the analyst independently developed all estimates, financial models and projections.
Separately, the company announced that President and Executive Chairman Anil R. Diwan participated in a “Fireside Chat” published by StockInvestor Daily’s IPO-Edge program, where he discussed NanoViricides’ antiviral technology platform, the potential of NV-387 against multiple viral diseases and variants, the company’s regulatory progress, including FDA Orphan Drug Designation and its Rare Pediatric Disease Designation filing for measles, as well as the resurgence of infectious diseases such as measles, mpox and Ebola.
NanoViricides is a clinical stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for antiviral therapy. Its novel nanoviricide class of drug candidates and technology are based on intellectual property, technology and proprietary know-how of TheraCour Pharma, Inc. The company has a Memorandum of Understanding with TheraCour for the development of drugs based on these technologies for all antiviral infections, excluding cancer and similar diseases that may have viral origin but require different kinds of treatments.
The company’s lead drug candidate is NV-387, a broad-spectrum antiviral drug that the company plans to develop as a treatment of RSV, COVID, Long COVID, Influenza, and other respiratory viral infections, as well as MPOX/Smallpox infections, and Measles. Another advanced drug candidate is NV-HHV-1 for the treatment of Shingles. The company cannot project an exact date for filing an IND for any of its drugs because of dependence on a number of external collaborators and consultants. The company is currently focused on advancing NV-387 into Phase II human clinical trials.
NV-CoV-2 (API NV-387) is the company’s nanoviricide drug candidate for COVID-19 that does not encapsulate remdesivir. NV-CoV-2-R is another drug candidate for COVID-19 that is made up of NV-387 with remdesivir encapsulated within its polymeric micelles. The company believes that since remdesivir is already US FDA approved, its drug candidate encapsulating remdesivir is likely to be an approvable drug, if safety is comparable. Remdesivir is developed by Gilead. The company has developed both of its own drug candidates NV-CoV-2 and NV-CoV-2-R independently.
The company is also developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including oral and genital Herpes, viral diseases of the eye including EKC and herpes keratitis, H1N1 swine flu, H5N1 bird flu, seasonal Influenza, HIV, Hepatitis C, Rabies, Dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others. NanoViricides’ platform technology and programs are based on the TheraCour nanomedicine technology of TheraCour, which TheraCour licenses from AllExcel. NanoViricides holds a worldwide exclusive perpetual license to this technology for several drugs with specific targeting mechanisms in perpetuity for the treatment of the following human viral diseases: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV/AIDS), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Rabies, Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2), Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV), Influenza and Asian Bird Flu Virus, Dengue viruses, Japanese Encephalitis virus, West Nile Virus, Ebola/Marburg viruses, and certain Coronaviruses. The company intends to obtain a license for RSV, Poxviruses, and/or Enteroviruses if the initial research is successful.
As is customary, the company must state the risk factor that the path to typical drug development of any pharmaceutical product is extremely lengthy and requires substantial capital. As with any drug development efforts by any company, there can be no assurance at this time that any of the company’s pharmaceutical candidates would show sufficient effectiveness and safety for human clinical development. Further, there can be no assurance at this time that successful results against coronavirus in the lab will lead to successful clinical trials or a successful pharmaceutical product.
For more information, visit the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/NNVC.
