Bold Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced that it initiated a research partnership with researchers from the University of Ottawa to explore the potential utility of BOLD-100 as a novel antiviral agent.
“We will be using our lentiviral-based infection system, derived from HIV, equipped with the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) spike, to study the impact of BOLD-100 on viral entry,” explained Dr. Marc-André Langlois, Faculty Professor of Medicine and Canada Research Chair in Molecular Virology and Intrinsic Immunity. “There is an urgent need for novel antiviral agents effective against COVID-19 and related pathogens, and we look forward to advancing our understanding of the role that GRP78 plays in viral entry.”
BOLD-100’s main mechanism of action is to inhibit stress-induced upregulation of GRP78. There is extensive literature suggesting that GRP78 plays a critical role in host recognition, viral entry and viral replication.
BOLD-100 is a first-in-class anti-resistance ruthenium-based small molecule drug which selectively inhibits stress-induced upregulation of GRP78. Bold Therapeutics is focused on development of BOLD-100 in combination with FOLFOX and other anti-cancer agents for the treatment of various gastrointestinal cancers, including gastric, pancreatic, colorectal and bile duct (cholangiocarcinoma) cancers. A previously completed Phase 1 monotherapy study of BOLD-100 in advanced cancers showed that BOLD-100 was generally well-tolerated, with minimal side effects. Bold Therapeutics currently has ample cGMP clinical product available and an open IND / CTA in the U.S. and Canada, respectively, allowing for potentially rapid clinical development.
