OTTAWA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- JN Nova Pharma Inc. has entered into collaboration with the National Research Council of Canadas (NRC) Pandemic Response Challenge program to develop a therapeutic pipeline for severe pathologies observed in COVID-19.

COVID-19 is not ‘just’ a respiratory infection – it is a complex disease that causes damage to multiple organs, including lung, heart, blood vessels and brain. JN Nova Pharma and the NRC’s team from the Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre are co-developing a platform therapeutic approach based on multi-functional fusion protein(s) to address complex manifestations of COVID-19. The goal is to both prevent SARS-Cov2 cellular invasion into these tissues (‘viral trap’) and to mitigate pathology triggered by the host response to the virus, including over-activation of immune system and lung and heart failure. Building on previous joint work in the domain of brain diseases, this collaboration will also address severe neurological complications of COVID-19.

JN Nova Pharma will be a development partner for therapeutic modalities arising from this project, enabling their accelerated translation through biomanufacturing and towards clinical trials. The first therapeutic lead ‘out the door’ is expected to commence efficacy and biomanufacturability tests in September.

JN Nova Pharma executives, Dr. John Gillard, and Dr. Nathan Yoganathan are both experienced biotech drug developers. Dr. John Gillard, CEO of JN Nova, indicated that they anticipate launching the first trials in humans within the next year. “It is now clear that there are distinct susceptibilities in patient groups to disease severity and elucidating the early biomarkers to risk of complications is a key step to individualize therapy. Above all, we wish to avoid cytokine storms, resulting in ICU placement and ventilator rescue. The individualised therapy can be achieved by developing precision-medicine approach for COVID-19 treatment, which is our goal,” said Dr. Gillard.

“We plan to use Canadian manufacturing groups to produce COVID-19 therapeutics for clinical trials in 2021,” stated Dr. Nathan Yoganathan, President & CSO of JN Nova Pharma Inc. “As well as to ensure a sustainable supply of our future pipeline for acute respiratory distress therapies for Canada and the rest of the world.”

Learn more about the NRC’s Pandemic Response Challenge program.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200814005244/en/