Romark announces initial results of Phase III trial of NT 300 tablets for the treatment of COVID 19.

Romark announced initial results of a Phase III clinical trial of its investigational new drug candidate NT 300 (nitazoxanide extended-release tablets, 300 mg) versus placebo as a treatment for mild or moderate COVID-19 . Based on the findings, Romark is working with the FDA and plans to seek Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). In the analysis of the primary endpoint, median time to sustained response (a measure of recovery time) was similar for subjects treated with NT 300 compared with placebo (approximately 13 days). In the pre-defined subgroup of patients with mild disease, median time to sustained response was reduced by 3.1 days with NT 300 (10.3 days, n=116) versus placebo (13.4 days, n=129). In the analysis of the key secondary endpoint, treatment with NT-300 was associated with an 85% (0.5% of NT 300-treated patients vs. 3.6% of patients treated with placebo) reduction in the progression to severe illness (shortness of breath at rest with SpO2 ?93% on room air or PaO2/FiO2<300). only one person treated with nt 300 progressed to severe covid-19 disease. in the pre-defined subgroup at high risk of severe illness according to cdc criteria, 7 126 (5.6%) of placebo-treated subjects experienced severe illness compared to 1 112 (0.9%) of nt-300-treated subjects. the multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial (nct04486313) studied 1,092 people ages 12 and older with respiratory symptoms consistent with covid-19. participants were enrolled at outpatient centers across the united states within 72 hours of symptom onset and treated either with two nt-300 tablets or placebo twice daily for five days. efficacy analyses focused on the 379 participants who had laboratory-confirmed sars-cov-2 infection at baseline.nt-300 was well tolerated. the only adverse event occurring in more than 2% of subjects was diarrhea (3.4% in the nt-300 group vs. 2.2% in the placebo group). there were no significant differences in adverse events between the two treatment groups. full findings from the study will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. results from an additional clinical trial for the prevention of covid-19 and other viral respiratory illnesses in high-risk populations, including healthcare workers, are expected by the middle of the year. laboratory studies to evaluate the potential for resistance of influenza a virus to tizoxanide, the active circulating metabolite of nitazoxanide, have been unable to select for resistant viruses, suggesting a low potential for viral resistance. other studies have shown tizoxanide suppresses secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines that are upregulated by viral respiratory infections including il-6.5 the antiviral and anti-cytokine activities of nitazoxanide are attributed to modulation of mitochondrial function and consequential effects on cell signaling pathways. the nt-300 tablets, administered orally, are designed to deliver antiviral concentrations of drug to the respiratory tract throughout twice-daily dosing. the 600 mg dose was selected based upon a dose-range-finding clinical trial conducted in outpatients with influenza. to date, clinical trials of nt 300 for treatment of viral respiratory illnesses have included more than 7,000 patients. the nt 300 clinical development program has been designed to provide robust evidence of effectiveness to support use of nt 300 and to ensure maximum benefit to the very large number of patients that experience these illnesses.>