Heron Therapeutics to Initiate Phase 2 Clinical Study of CINVANTI® for COVID-19 Treatment

Heron Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: HRTX), a commercial-stage biotechnology company focused on improving the lives of patients by developing best-in-class treatments to address some of the most important unmet patient needs, today announced the initiation of the GUARDS-1 Study, a Phase 2 clinical study evaluating CINVANTI (aprepitant) injectable emulsion in early hospitalized patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The study initiation follows clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Heron's Investigational New Drug application for CINVANTI for the treatment of COVID-19. CINVANTI is an intravenous formulation of aprepitant, a substance P/neurokinin-1 (NK1) receptor antagonist (RA) approved for use for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients with cancer. Substance P, and its receptor NK1, is distributed throughout the body in the cells of many tissues and organs, including the lungs. COVID-19, which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is associated with lower respiratory tract inflammation that often progresses to Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). ARDS is associated with high mortality. Heron's rationale for the investigation of CINVANTI for the treatment of COVID-19 is based on multiple potential mechanisms for activity. Suppressing the cytokine storm could be a crucial step to prevent the clinical deterioration of patients with COVID-19. Administration of aprepitant injectable emulsion to these patients is expected to decrease the production and release of inflammatory cytokines mediated by the binding of substance P to NK1 receptors, which could prevent the progression of lung injury to ARDS. A hallmark of COVID-19 is a non-productive neurogenic cough, likely due to the increased susceptibility of lung tissue to neurogenic inflammation caused by the disease. Recent studies have demonstrated that administration of oral aprepitant resulted in significantly decreased severity of cough in patients with neurogenic cough associated with advanced lung cancer. Additionally, aprepitant may have direct antiviral activity. Using a computational screening approach, aprepitant was found to have the ability to form hydrogen bonds to key residues within the binding pocket of the main protease of SARS-CoV-2, which is a key enzyme required for replication. CINVANTI is approved for administration as a 2-minute intravenous injection. For these potential benefits, the plasma concentrations of aprepitant produced with the 2-minute intravenous injection of CINVANTI could provide a unique advantage over other methods of administration.