6 July 2020 - - US-based biotechnology company Anixa Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANIX) and partner OntoChem have completed the initial in silico screening process of their drug discovery programme and have identified an additional specific compound, as well as multiple analogs, that could function as inhibitors of the main protease of the virus, the company said.

As previously reported, Anixa and OntoChem have identified four compounds that could disrupt the function of a viral enzyme called an endoribonuclease (also known as Non-Structural Protein-15, or NSP-15).

The potential NSP-15 inhibitors have been synthesized and are in the process of being tested in biological assays, the results of which should be available in a few weeks or sooner.

The candidate inhibitors of Mpro are being synthesized, a process that is anticipated to take three to four weeks, and then they will be tested in biological assays.

Based on initial identification of the Mpro scaffold compound, Anixa and OntoChem have created a new in silico library of analog compounds that will be evaluated through additional in silico screening to choose which additional compounds may be synthesized and evaluated in biological assays.

Anixa is a biotechnology company developing a number of programmes addressing cancer and infectious disease.

Anixa's therapeutic portfolio includes a cancer immunotherapy programme which uses a novel type of CAR-T, known as chimeric endocrine receptor T-cell (CER-T) technology, and a Covid-19 therapeutics program focused on inhibiting certain viral protein function.

The company's vaccine portfolio consists of a technology focused on the immunization against α-Lactalbumin to prevent triple negative breast cancer. Anixa continually examines emerging technologies in complementary fields for further development and commercialisation.