Norway’s BerGenBio hopes to get an early indication of its drug bemcentinib’s effectiveness in treating the most vulnerable coronavirus patients, the company said.
“I AM EXTREMELY OPTIMISTIC”
The drug was originally designed to interfere with a tumour’s ability to suppress the body’s immune response against it.The company said the trial is part of its participation in the UK’s ACCORD initiative, short for Accelerating coronavirus Research & Development.
BerGenBio chief exec Richard Godfrey said he was “extremely optimistic” the treatment would save lives.
He told UK’s Daily Mail on Sunday: “I think there’s an 80 per cent probability of it working and being of benefit to patients.”
When US drugs firm Gilead last week announced that tests of its antiviral treatment remdesivir helped patients recover four days earlier from the virus, stock markets in the US and Asia soared.