The Albany Gazette - Deadly Measles Cases Accentuate the Need for a Treatment - NV-387 is Here to Help Patients and Control Spread, Says NanoViricides

Bangladesh recently reported 18,219 suspected measles cases, including 2,897 confirmed cases, and 164 suspected case deaths, with transmission in 58 of 64 districts, in the single month of March 15 to April 14, 2026^[1]. Over 80% of the cases are in children under the age of 5 years, and most of the deaths are in unvaccinated cases. The nation has rolled out a vaccination campaign which is expected to reach 1.2 million children in 18 of the 64 districts in the first phase.

"This response clearly leaves out treating patients which is the immediate need," said Anil R. Diwan, PhD, adding, "Our drug NV-387 is currently the only medical countermeasure that can help these patients and save lives."

A treatment such as NV-387 would help curtail the transmission chain as well, which would help stall the epidemic sooner. This is because a patient recovering in a shorter timeframe due to receiving treatment compared to without treatment means less days of further transmission from the patient.

Additionally, contacts including health care workers can be treated with the same drug in smaller doses to prevent infection and transmission immediately.

In contrast to the immediate effect of drug treatment, a vaccinated individual becomes protected only after 2-3 weeks post vaccination; so they continue to remain at risk while immersed in the epidemic. Also worth noting is the fact that measles vaccination requires two doses separated over several weeks in order to reach maximum effectiveness.

NV-387, we believe, is the only drug candidate that has been shown to be effective and safe in specially humanized animal model studies of lethal Measles virus infection (humanized h-CD150+ knock-in, IfnAR-/- genotyped mice), as reported previously by NanoViricides. NV-387 has completed a Phase I clinical trial with no reported adverse events, indicating excellent safety and tolerability in humans.

As of April 16, there were 1,738 confirmed measles cases reported by 33 jurisdictions in the USA according to CDC^[2]. Since then, at least two additional states have reported cases.

Measles 2-dose vaccine is considered to be highly effective, with only a 10-11% breakthrough rate (i.e. infection in vaccinees). This is in spite of the fact that the vaccine was developed 60 years ago, by attenuating genotype A measles virus, whereas current circulating viruses are genotype D8 and B3, among others. Although the virus has continued to mutate, the receptor binding sites on the viral glycoprotein H are not hidden from the immune system, and also these sites are functionally conserved despite mutations. This is why infection with any measles virus (vaccine strain or circulating "wild-type") protects against substantially all genotypes.

Nevertheless, infants under the vaccination age (especially after 3 months when the maternal antibodies in the infant wane), immune-compromised persons including HIV, persons with morbidities such as diabetes, auto-immune diseases, etc. cannot generate sufficiently high levels of protection from vaccines. These groups, as well as health care workers (the latter due to high exposure risk) remain susceptible despite vaccination. As such, even if these groups catch asymptomatic or mild infection, they would potentially transmit the virus to others.

This is why having a treatment as a complement to the vaccine is essential for containment towards elimination and eventually potentially eradication of measles virus. At present, NV-387 is the only drug candidate that we know of that fulfills this unmet medical need.

Measles is considered a rare orphan disease in the USA. It is also a rare pediatric disease. As such, NV-387 for the treatment of Measles would qualify for an Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) together with a Rare Pediatric Disease Drug (RPDD) designation. These designations provide sponsors with incentives including tax credits for qualified clinical trials, exemption from user fees, and potential seven years of market exclusivity after approval^[3]. Additionally, RPDD would qualify NV-387 for issuance of a Priority Review Voucher (PRV) upon drug approval. NanoViricides has applied for NV-387 as a treatment for measles for ODD as well as RPDD to the US FDA.

A PRV is a tradable instrument and can fetch cash value of $150 million to $200 million. A PRV, if granted, would thus significantly improve the business case for the regulatory development of NV-387 as a measles treatment.

ABOUT NANOVIRICIDES

NanoViricides, Inc. (the "Company") (www.nanoviricides.com) is a publicly traded (NYSE-American, stock symbol NNVC) clinical stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for antiviral therapy. The Company's novel nanoviricide^™ class of drug candidates and the nanoviricide^™ technology are based on intellectual property, technology and proprietary know-how of TheraCour Pharma, Inc. The Company has a Memorandum of Understanding with TheraCour for the development of drugs based on these technologies for all antiviral infections. The MoU does not include cancer and similar diseases that may have viral origin but require different kinds of treatments.

The Company has obtained broad, exclusive, sub-licensable, field licenses to drugs developed in several licensed fields from TheraCour Pharma, Inc. The Company's business model is based on licensing technology from TheraCour Pharma Inc. for specific application verticals of specific viruses, as established at its foundation in 2005.

Our lead drug candidate is NV-387, a broad-spectrum antiviral drug that we plan to develop as a treatment of RSV, COVID, Long COVID, Influenza, and other respiratory viral infections, as well as MPOX/Smallpox infections. Our other advanced drug candidate is NV-HHV-1 for the treatment of Shingles. The Company cannot project an exact date for filing an IND for any of its drugs because of dependence on a number of external collaborators and consultants. The Company is currently focused on advancing NV-387 into Phase II human clinical trials.

The Company is also developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including oral and genital Herpes, viral diseases of the eye including EKC and herpes keratitis, H1N1 swine flu, H5N1 bird flu, seasonal Influenza, HIV, Hepatitis C, Rabies, Dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others. NanoViricides' platform technology and programs are based on the TheraCour® nanomedicine technology of TheraCour, which TheraCour licenses from AllExcel. NanoViricides holds a worldwide exclusive perpetual license to this technology for several drugs with specific targeting mechanisms in perpetuity for the treatment of the following human viral diseases: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV/AIDS), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Rabies, Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2), Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV), Influenza and Asian Bird Flu Virus, Dengue viruses, Japanese Encephalitis virus, West Nile Virus, Ebola/Marburg viruses, and certain Coronaviruses. The Company intends to obtain a license for RSV, Poxviruses, and/or Enteroviruses if the initial research is successful. As is customary, the Company must state the risk factor that the path to typical drug development of any pharmaceutical product is extremely lengthy and requires substantial capital. As with any drug development efforts by any company, there can be no assurance at this time that any of the Company's pharmaceutical candidates would show sufficient effectiveness and safety for human clinical development. Further, there can be no assurance at this time that successful results against coronavirus in our lab will lead to successful clinical trials or a successful pharmaceutical product.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events. Actual events could differ materially and substantially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors. Certain statements in this release, and other written or oral statements made by NanoViricides, Inc. are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in documents filed by the company from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities. Although it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors, they may include the following: demonstration and proof of principle in preclinical trials that a nanoviricide is safe and effective; successful development of our product candidates; our ability to seek and obtain regulatory approvals, including with respect to the indications we are seeking; the successful commercialization of our product candidates; and market acceptance of our products.

The phrases "safety", "effectiveness" and equivalent phrases as used in this press release refer to research findings including clinical trials as the customary research usage and do not indicate evaluation of safety or effectiveness by the US FDA.

FDA refers to US Food and Drug Administration. IND application refers to "Investigational New Drug" application. cGMP refers to current Good Manufacturing Practices. CMC refers to "Chemistry, Manufacture, and Controls". CHMP refers to the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, which is the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) committee responsible for human medicines. API stands for "Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient". WHO is the World Health Organization. R&D refers to Research and Development.

Contact:
NanoViricides, Inc.
[email protected]

Public Relations Contact:
[email protected]

^[1] https://www.who.int/southeastasia/news/detail/15-04-2026-response-measlesBN

^[2] https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html

^[3] https://www.fda.gov/industry/medical-products-rare-diseases-and-conditions/designating-orphan-product-drugs-and-biological-products

SOURCE: NanoViricides, Inc.

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

(F.Allen--TAG)