Antiviral effects in a unique airway model – important collaboration with a renowned virologist

We have received verification funding for an important collaboration with Niklas Arnberg, Professor at Umeå University. He is a highly experienced and competent virologist and is frequently engaged as an expert in television, radio, and other media.

Niklas Arnberg has developed a unique three-dimensional model of human airways, constructed from different types of airway cells. The model is well suited for testing and verifying the antiviral effects of our peptides against several respiratory viruses, such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza viruses, various coronaviruses, and parainfluenza viruses. In this initial study, the model will be used to test and verify the antiviral effects of our peptides PLNC8ab (L- and D-forms) against the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

These experiments in Niklas Arnberg’s human airway model represent an important and decisive step between our previous, convincing cell studies and forthcoming animal studies and clinical phase trials, as well as for the development of a new antiviral drug. Niklas Arnberg, like us, sees a strong need for the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs that act directly against viruses and can treat and cure viral infections, in a manner comparable to how antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections.