Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:PTI) has announced results from its in vitro studies to evaluate PTI-129 use in COVID-19 treatment. PTI-129 is the company’s preclinical oral small and a once per day molecule that initially was meant for the treatment of protein misfolding disorders that involve unfolded protein response.
PTI-129 can reduce the mechanism of working of viral proteins in host cells
Once an individual is infected with coronaviruses, they hijack endoplasmic reticulum in cells, resulting in more susceptible misfolding viral glycoproteins. As a result, there is an accumulation of unfolded and misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum. Therefore, this will result in stress to the endoplasmic reticulum and, as a result, bring about the unfolded protein response (UPR).
In the company’s in vitro studies carried at Scripps Research’s drug discovery division, Calibr, the molecule demonstrated that there was a possibility of a reduction in the production of the host’s viral protein cells. PTI-129 attained this through activation of the UPR adaptive branches as well as minimizing misfolded protein levels.
Proteostasis working towards having a treatment for the novel coronavirus
Meenu Chhabra, the CEO and President of the company indicated that the current COVID-19 pandemic has turned out to be a huge public health challenge. Thus it requires investigation of all potential approaches of resolving. The company is exploring ways of advancing the understanding of PTI-129 as a potential treatment agent against the COVID-19. Meenu added that Proteostasis was looking for support from different agencies to expedite the program to develop a treatment against the virus that has caused over 350,000 deaths globally.
Calibr’s VP of Medicinal Chemistry, Arnab Chatterjee, indicated an urgent need to develop an effective treatment against the novel coronavirus. Arnab added that since treatment is a global priority, Calibr was dedicated to understanding the wide spectrum of elements as well as pathways like PTI-129, UPR modulator, which can potentially help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
