CARY, NC, October 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — BioLink Life Sciences of Cary, North Carolinaannounced today that it has received an agreement from BARDA (the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority) to fund the development of ramatroban for the treatment of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia (the RAMBAN-1 study).
BioLinks $750,000 BARDA’s contract complements a multimillion-dollar grant from Open Philanthropy to the Charak Foundation. RAMBAN-1 is a randomized, placebo-controlled, Phase 2/3 clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of ramatroban in accelerating recovery in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia with a 28-day treatment period. RAMBAN-1 will also investigate whether treating an acute illness with ramatroban for 28 days reduces the risk of developing post-acute episodes of COVID-19 (“Long COVID”) later in the following 11 months.
This study, which is being conducted at multiple clinical sites in Indiaexpected to support an emergency regulatory approval in India for acute COVID-19 while laying the foundation for future clinical trials for the treatment of both acute and long-term COVID-19 The United States.
Ramatroban has been approved and used in Japan for over 20 years in the treatment of allergic rhinitis by twice daily oral administration. In COVID-19, ramatroban targets signaling pathways activated by massive increases in lipid mediators, including thromboxane A2 and prostaglandin D2. Clinical researchers believe that thromboxane A2 slows blood circulation through the lungs, reduces blood oxygenation and promotes blood clotting, while prostaglandin D2 leads to misfires in the immune system.
In a landmark case series, the use of ramatroban in outpatients with COVID-19 pneumonia resulted in rapid and sustained relief from both acute respiratory distress and hypoxemia, thereby avoiding hospitalization (ogle tree et al. 2022). Ramatroban’s potential mechanism of action in COVID-19 has recently been reviewed (chiang et al2022).
