Benzinga | Dec 7, 2020 06:59AM EST

Matinas BioPharma Announces Collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to Evaluate Oral Formulations of Gilead's Antiviral Remdesivir Utilizing Matinas' LNC Platform Delivery Technology

Matinas BioPharma Holdings, Inc. (NYSE AMER: MTNB), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing next generation therapeutics to advance standards of care in areas of significant unmet medical need, today announced that they plan to collaborate with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to test oral formulations of remdesivir in preclinical models. Remdesivir is owned by Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) and the lipid nanocrystal (LNC) platform is owned by Matinas. Any product generated as a part of efforts by Matinas and NIAID would require a license from Gilead for the use of remdesivir and a license from Matinas for the use of the LNC formulation.

One or more formulations of remdesivir will be developed using Matinas' Lipid Nanocrystal (LNC) platform delivery technology, which enables the development of a wide range of difficult-to-deliver molecules. Matinas plans to utilize NIAID's suite of preclinical services to carry out antiviral testing with selected formulations. Gilead will provide remdesivir and work with Matinas to evaluate the data generated from the planned series of preclinical studies.

"We believe that our LNC technology may be applied to remdesivir to allow for the potential for oral administration of this important drug in the fight against COVID-19," commented Jerome D. Jabbour, Chief Executive Officer of Matinas.

Matinas' LNC platform delivery technology offers an oral intracellular drug delivery solution with potential advantages over other delivery technologies across a broad range of therapeutics. The Company has demonstrated in preclinical animal models the ability to formulate and deliver a wide variety of molecules and drugs (including oligonucleotides, peptides, proteins, vaccines, and small molecules) which, (a) require delivery technology to improve the stability of molecules inside and outside of the body; (b) could benefit from efficient delivery and cellular uptake by target cells; (c) are currently only available in IV formulations or (d) otherwise experience significant toxicity-related adverse events.