NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- NanoViricides, Inc. (Pink Sheets:NNVC) announced today that the Company is actively developing its first NanoViricide(tm) drug, "FluCide-I(tm)." The Company expects to commence studies in external laboratories within a matter of weeks to verify the drug's effectiveness and basic safety profile against the influenza virus. Animal studies as well as cell culture studies will be initiated.
The Company has accelerated its development of FluCide-I in order to have basic safety and efficacy data on the anti-influenza system when it meets in December with the Government of Vietnam's National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology ("NIHE"). NIHE is Vietnam's leading institute for the surveillance, control and prevention of infectious diseases. They have extended an invitation to the Company to discuss the use of the NanoViricide technology in the battle against bird flu.
Public health officials have emphasized the importance of Vietnam in the fight against the Asian Bird Flu. What happens in poor, densely populated Vietnam is critical in preventing a global avian flu pandemic.
Experts predict that if the virus mutates into a form that is easily transmitted between humans, and is not contained in Southeast Asia, it could quickly kill up to 7 million people globally.
WHO's Vietnam director Hans Troedsson in news sources has stated, "This is not a Vietnamese problem; this is a global public health problem where Vietnam is on the front line."
"Our first drug, FluCide-I(tm), is now entering internal testing prior to release to external laboratories for animal testing and related work," said Dr. Anil Diwan, President of NanoViricides, Inc. "I believe that FluCide-I, which is based on the core NanoViricide(tm) technology accompanied by a proprietary ligand that is capable of attachment to Influenza A, Influenza B, and Influenza C virus subtypes, may have a substantially improved effectiveness over the existing drugs. One of the main reasons for our trip to Vietnam will be to create a strategy for developing the ligands that are specific for Bird Flu so that FluCide-I can be quickly redeveloped to be specific against that disease. That resulting new drug will be called AvianFlucide-I(tm)."
FluCide-I is being developed at present as a bronchial aerosol that carries the drug into the bronchial/pulmonary space which is the primary site of infection by influenza viruses.
Eugene Seymour, MD, CEO of NanoViricides, Inc., said, "The enormous threat to the health of the world's population by Bird Flu is finally being acknowledged. Public Health officials are now saying that it is not a question of 'if' but of 'when' the epidemic will explode out of Asia. Tamiflu(tm), a drug produced by Roche Laboratories, is currently the only available treatment. Major governments are now starting to place orders to keep stockpiles of Tamiflu within their borders. The Financial Times reported yesterday that the United States is in talks with Roche to buy a large amount of the drug, and that the contract could be worth $1 billion."
About NanoViricides -- http://www.nanoviricides.com
NanoViricides, Inc. is a development stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for viral therapy. NanoViricides, Inc. has exclusive license in perpetuity for technologies developed by Theracour Pharma for the five virus types: HIV, HCV, Herpes, Asian (bird) flu and Influenza. A NanoViricide(tm) is a specially designed, flexible, nanomaterial that contains an encapsulated active pharmaceutical ingredient and targets it to a specific type of virus, like a guided missile. When a NanoViricide drug enters the patient's blood stream, each nanoscale micelle of the drug attacks and neutralizes circulating virus particles. Once this is done, the active pharmaceutical ingredient is injected into the virus particle by the NanoViricide micelle, destroying it completely. The company plans to develop novel NanoViricide drugs first against HIV and Influenza, and anticipates that it will license the products to major pharmaceutical companies.
This press release contains forward-looking statements which reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual events could differ materially and substantially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors including the success of the Company's research and development strategy, the availability of adequate financing, the successful and timely completion of clinical studies and the uncertainties related to the regulatory process.