The Biotron Limited (ASX: BIT) share price is soaring higher this morning after the small-cap ASX healthcare share released more data in relation to the effectiveness of its antiviral drug, BIT225.
After rocketing as much as 21.7% higher in early trade to $0.14, Biotron shares are now up 13.04% at the time of writing at $0.13.
What did Biotron announce today?
This morning, Biotron released to the market new data regarding the effectiveness of its lead antiviral drug BIT225 used for fighting HIV-1 infections.
Biotron commented that the results from its new findings are encouraging and may have profound implications for the future treatment and cure of HIV-1 infection. The latest data further characterise the previously reported immune-modulating effects of antiviral drug BIT225.
In its release today, Biotron explained the new data shows that BIT225 "unmasks" HIV-infected cells that have remained in the body of patients who have already undergone treatment with other approved anti-HIV-1 drugs.
Biotron further commented that these infected reservoir cells are usually masked from the body's immune system. According to the company, this is the key reason why life-long drugs are essential in order to keep the infections of HIV-1 under control.
Biotron noted that when added to a mix of anti-HIV-1 drugs, BIT225 has the positive effect of stimulating the body's immune system so that its cells can actually "see" the HIV-infected reservoir cells.
Back in late 2018, Biotron completed clinical trials and released positive results on this antiviral drug, BIT225. During the time since, the medical company has continued clinical work in order to characterise the unique mechanism of action of BIT225. This included the company's previous BIT225-009 Phase 2 HIV-1 clinical trial which had displayed encouraging results.
Previous coronavirus announcement
Back on 6 February 2020, Biotron announced plans to test for activity against coronavirus. At the time, Biotron noted that it had several early-stage programs in place for designing drugs that target a class of virus protein known as viroporins.
Viroporins play a key role in the virus life cycle of a range of viruses, many of which have caused worldwide health issues, including the coronavirus. Biotron has not provided any further announcements with regards to this since then. In response to the announcement, the Biotron share price rocketed 70% higher in the space of two days.
