18 January 2023 - - US-based Virpax Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: VRPX), a company specializing in developing non-addictive products for pain management, post-traumatic stress disorder, and central nervous system disorders, will utilize pain expert Dr. Neil K. Singla to assist in the design and support of the clinical development strategy for Probudur, the company said.

Probudur is Virpax's post-operative, ultra-long-acting anesthetic injection product candidate for post-operative pain management that is being developed to significantly reduce or eliminate the need for opioids after surgery in approved indications.

Probudur's proprietary formulation is intended for immediate onset and has demonstrated sustained pain control for up to 96 hours in animal studies.

The company entered into a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) in May of 2022 with the US Army Institute of Surgical Research, the primary laboratory of the Department of Defense, to evaluate Probudur for trauma and critical care challenges.

Dr. Neil Singla is board certified in Anesthesiology and the Founder and chief scientific officer of Lotus Clinical Research, a leading analgesic clinical research organization with extensive analgesic and pain-related expertise.

He has interacted frequently with the FDA's Analgesics Division and is a nationally recognized key opinion leader in analgesic protocol design and implementation. Dr. Singla has published extensively and is a frequent lecturer for physicians, pharmaceutical companies, and medical research institutes throughout the country.

He currently chairs the Analgesic Clinical Trials Shared/Special Interest Group at the International Association for the Study of Pain(IASP), chaired the Clinical Trials Shared Interest Group at the American Pain Society through 2019 and chairs the annual Conference on Analgesic Clinical Trials.

Virpax is developing branded, non-addictive pain management products candidates using its proprietary technologies to optimize and target drug delivery.

Virpax is initially seeking FDA approval for two prescription drug candidates that employ two different patented drug delivery platforms.

Probudur is a single injection liposomal bupivacaine formulation being developed to manage post-operative pain and Envelta is an intranasal molecular envelope enkephalin formulation being developed to manage acute and chronic pain, including pain associated with cancer.

Virpax is also using its intranasal Molecular Envelope Technology to develop two other product candidates.

PES200 is a product candidate being developed to manage post-traumatic stress disorder and NobrXiol is a product candidate being developed for the nasal delivery of a pharmaceutical-grade cannabidiol for the management of rare pediatric epilepsy.

Virpax acquired global rights to NobrXiol.

Virpax is also seeking approval of two nonprescription product candidates: AnQlar, which is being developed to inhibit viral replication caused by influenza or SARS-CoV-2, and Epoladerm, which is a topical diclofenac spray film formulation being developed to manage pain associated with osteoarthritis.