Benzinga | Aug 6, 2021 09:01AM EDT

Altamira Therapeutics Reports Effects Of Bentrio Nasal Spray Against Influenza A Virus; Says Showed 'Significant reduction of viral titer in human nasal epithelium model both in prevention and treatment of influenza infection '

* Significant reduction of viral titer in human nasal epithelium model both in prevention and treatment of influenza infection (p<0.01)

* New data demonstrate protective effects in viral infections beyond SARS-CoV-2

HAMILTON, BERMUDA / ACCESSWIRE / August 6, 2021 / Altamira Therapeutics Ltd. (NASDAQ:CYTO), a company dedicated to addressing unmet medical needs through RNA therapeutics, allergy and viral infection protection, and inner ear therapeutics, today announced positive outcomes from testing Bentrio(tm) for prophylactic or therapeutic use in influenza A virus infection. Bentrio(tm) (AM-301) is a drug-free nasal spray being developed by the Company's affiliate Altamira Medica for protection against airborne viruses and allergens.

Bentrio(tm) was tested for its capability to prevent or mitigate infection of the human nasal epithelium by influenza A virus of the H1N1 subtype. Well-known outbreaks of H1N1-type influenza A in humans include the 2009 swine flu pandemic. Both prophylactic and therapeutic treatment with Bentrio(tm) resulted in a statistically significant reduction in viral load compared against saline-treated controls (p<0.01; repeated-measures ANOVA). On Day 4, the viral load was 84% and 77%, respectively, lower than in controls.

"Following the exciting results in SARS-CoV-2, we are very pleased to see the protective effects of Bentrio confirmed also in influenza in a highly relevant in vitro model," commented Thomas Meyer, Altamira Therapeutic's founder, Chairman and CEO. "Thanks to its triple mode of action, which is based purely on physical effects, Bentrio can help protect against various types of virus. These new results in influenza add to the growing evidence for Bentrio's broad range of protection against airborne viruses and allergens." According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, since 2010 influenza has resulted in 9-45 million illnesses, 140,000-810,000 hospitalizations and 12,000-61,000 deaths annually. Bentrio(tm) is currently being rolled out for commercialization in the first European markets.

For the experiment, reconstituted cells from donors were inoculated with the H1N1 subtype of influenza A virus either 10 minutes after the first application of Bentrio(tm) (to test the formulation's preventive effects) or 24 hours prior to the first application of Bentrio(tm) (to test the formulation's mitigative effects). Bentrio(tm) was applied daily for four days; the viral load (Tissue Culture Infectious Dose, TCID50) was determined on MDCK cell lines.