Companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries are stepping to the plate daily to battle the novel coronavirus. Research is moving at lightning speed, both for a vaccine and treatment, for the virus that has brought the global economy to its knees.
Simulations Plus (SLP) has announced a special initiative to help any pharma or biotech company in their battle against coronavirus. The company has established the StrategiesPlus™ COVID-19 ACT Program.
Simulations Plus CEO, Shawn O’Connor, described the new program. “Working together with pharmaceutical companies, universities, and government agencies, we can speed the virtual candidate evaluation pipeline and/or drug repurposing assessments to improve predictions of clinical outcomes, drive research priorities, and accelerate regulatory approval. We stand ready to help in any way useful to effectively solve this pandemic.”
The company is known for its advanced modeling and simulation software, which can provide invaluable information to researchers testing the efficacy and safety of a new drug. In addition to advising pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, Simulations Plus also works with a number of other industries. These include industrial chemicals, cosmetics, food ingredients and herbicides.
The new StrategiesPlus™ initiative has a five pronged approach to help companies seeking coronavirus treatments.
First, the initiative will look at the efficacy of how a drug is delivered. This will compare such things as oral dosing versus inhalation. The goal is to deliver as much drug impact as possible to the lungs.
Second, the initiative will examine data in regulatory reports to determine dosing sizes. In essence, this will determine whether higher doses of drugs already in use can be given safely.
Third, Simulations Plus will look at the impact of potential novel coronavirus treatments on vital organs. Will the treatment unacceptably impact a patient’s liver or cardiovascular system, and to what extent? This will ensure the treatment is not worse than the disease.
Fourth, the initiative will help determine how the virus reacts with a variety of treatments, and help develop a course of treatment. This will help with “clinical and strategic decision making and regulatory submissions.”
And, fifth and finally, Simulations Plus will perform “Comprehensive Clinical Pharmacology consulting for drug development and regulatory interaction”. Or, be involved in the actual implementation of treatments.
Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, Simulations Plus’ stock had been very strong, moving from $20 in early 2019, to $42 by August.
The stock has now gone into a range, from the mid-$20s to the mid-$30s. Recent recognition that the company is playing a big role in finding and implementing a variety of coronavirus treatments may have played a role in the stock’s jump in the past few weeks.
Steven Adams’s personal position in Simulations Plus: none.
