Benzinga | Aug 13, 2020 07:27AM EDT

Cerecor Announces Peer-Reviewed Publication Highlighting 'the Role of the Inflammatory Cytokine, LIGHT, in COVID-19 ARDS'

ROCKVILLE, Md. and CHESTERBROOK, Pa., Aug. 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cerecor Inc. (NASDAQ:CERC), a biopharmaceutical company focused on becoming a leader in development and commercialization of treatments for rare pediatric and orphan diseases, today announced the publication of a peer-reviewed paper demonstrating significantly elevated free LIGHT levels in the serum of hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 infection. The publication, entitled Levels of the TNF related cytokine, LIGHT, increased in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with Cytokine Release Syndrome and ARDS in the Journal mSphere by David S. Perlin et al, highlights the potential role of the inflammatory cytokine, LIGHT in the development of COVID-19 ARDS. Cerecor believes that the publication supports its clinical program evaluating CERC-002, the only clinical stage anti-LIGHT monoclonal antibody, as a potential treatment for patients with severe COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome ("ARDS").A link to the publication can be accessed here.



Dr. Perlin, chief scientific officer, senior vice president of the Center for Discovery and Innovation, and Professor of Medical Sciences at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, said, "Identifying the role of LIGHT in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 ("COVID-19") is a seminal finding pointing to understanding the potential mechanism by which COVID-19 infection leads to ARDS and suggests a promising new strategy to treat these patients."

"We believe these compelling results strongly support our hypothesis that LIGHT plays an important role in COVID-19 ARDS and indicated that a clinical trial of CERC-002 in COVID-19 ARDS was a logical next step," said Dr. Garry Neil, chief scientific officer at Cerecor. "This study is now well underway, and we expect topline results in the fourth quarter of 2020. We are further exploring the potential role of LIGHT as a driver of and biomarker for ARDS in additional studies of both COVID-19 infected patients as well as in a broader patient population of non-COVID-19 associated ARDS patients. From these studies we hope to learn more about the role of LIGHT in ARDS in general, while potentially opening a path for treatment of a broader population of ARDS patients who have high mortality and, in many cases, lack effective treatment options."