Star Metro - MPox Orphan Drug Designation Application Filed for NV-387, Declares NanoViricides

If approved, orphan drug designation will qualify NanoViricides for incentives including:

• Tax credits for qualified clinical trials;

• Exemption from certain user fees;

• Potential seven years of market exclusivity after approval;

according to the US FDA (https://www.fda.gov/industry/medical-products-rare-diseases-and-conditions/designating-orphan-product-drugs-and-biological-products).

"NV-387, as an effective drug would be an important tool to fight MPox in the USA and worldwide, when approved after clinical trials," said Anil R. Diwan, PhD, adding, "MPXV clade IIb is endemic in the USA. Further, the more contagious MPXV Clade Ia/Ib continues to simmer in Africa and is mutating, posing a potential global pandemic threat."

WHO had declared a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" (PHEIC) for MPox in 2022 due to the spread of MPXV Clade II into Western countries, ending it about a year later. A new PHEIC was declared by WHO again in August, 2024, due to the spread of MPox Clade Ia/Ib in African region, ending it in September, 2025. However, the Africa CDC has continued the declaration of the MPox pandemic in African Region as Public Health Emergency of Continental Security ("PHECS"), due to continued spread of the MPXV virus.

MPox disease is caused by infection with MPXV (Monkeypox Virus) virus. While earlier MPXV infections were related to zoonotic (i.e. from animals) transmission to humans, the virus has evolved to a highly contagious form, MPXV Clade Ib, in recent years with continuous human-to-human transmission. MPXV is closely related to Variola virus that causes Smallpox in humans. Smallpox is a far more severe and lethal disease compared to MPox. Smallpox was globally eradicated by 1980 by an aggressive vaccination campaign with an effective vaccine that provides lifelong immunity. This success is founded in the fact that Smallpox is restricted to humans and has no animal reservoirs, unlike MPox which has many animal reservoirs. Smallpox continues to be a bio-terrorism concern.

There is no approved drug for the treatment of MPox. Tecovirimat (TPOXX®, SIGA) and brincidofovir (TEMBEXA®, EBS) were approved by the US FDA for Smallpox, both under the "Animal Rule". Tecovirimat has failed to show any clinical effectiveness, and did not show any viral load reduction benefit either, over standard of care in a clinical trial for treatment of MPXV infections¹. Mutants resistant to tecovirimat were found to be generated in some cases. Brincidofovir treatment resulted in drug-induced liver disease in three out of three treated MPox patients resulting in cessation of therapy, and did not show any effectiveness in these patients according to a peer reviewed "retrospective observational study" also called "non-randomized study"². In spite of this, a clinical trial of brincidofovir for treating MPox was initiated under an international coalition led by US CDC and first patient was dosed around January 2025 in this "MOSA" clinical trial³. The topline results from this clinical trial regarding safety and efficacy were anticipated by CY Q2 (i.e. June, 2025). We have not found any press releases announcing any such results.

The orthopoxviruses can escape both small chemical drugs, tecovirimat and brincidofovir, by mutations, according to peer reviewed scientific articles⁴.

MPXV has continued to mutate in the African region. Mutants resistant to the JYNNEOS® Smallpox vaccine that was fielded to control the spread of MPXV Clade Ia/Ib have been found. The antibody response to MPXV from the JYNNEOS vaccine was found to be poor and short-lived⁵.

The above factors clearly highlight the need for an effective therapeutic for the treatment of MPOX.

NV-387 has shown strong effectiveness in a mouse model of dermal lethal infection of ectromelia, an orthopoxvirus closely related to viruses that cause smallpox and mpox. NV-387 has successfully completed a Phase I human clinical trial demonstrating safety and tolerability in healthy adults with no reported adverse events. Therefore the Company believes that NV-387 is a viable clinical candidate for the treatment of MPox.

In the USA, MPOX incidence rate was approximately 2,042 cases in 2025, well below 200,000 cases⁶. Thus NV-387 for the Treatment of MPox qualifies for Orphan Drug Designation.

NanoViricides employed the expert services of Only Orphans Cote, LLC, ("OOC") a regulatory consultant firm founded by Dr. Timothy Cote, for developing the ODD application. Dr. Timothy Cote previously served as the Director of US FDA Office of Orphan Products Development (OOPD), and has intimate knowledge of the laws, rules, and regulations, governing orphan drugs, and the potential benefits to the Drug Sponsors.

NV-387 is an unusually broad-spectrum antiviral drug that has demonstrated strong effectiveness in relevant animal models of multiple human viral infections. These include RSV, COVID, Influenza, Mpox, Smallpox, and Measles.

Viral resistance to NV-387 is unlikely because this drug mimics specific cell-side features that these viruses continue to employ to effectively infect human host cells, despite how much they may change in the field. In contrast, viruses mutations readily result in making traditional vaccines, antibodies, and small chemical drugs ineffective.

Further, NV-387 is a complete chemical nanomachine that completes the task of binding to, engulfing, and destroying virus particles without any dependence on the human immune system.

These factors make NV-387 unique in the field of antiviral drugs and vaccines.

ABOUT NANOVIRICIDES

NanoViricides, Inc. (the "Company") (www.nanoviricides.com) is a publicly traded (NYSE-American, stock symbol NNVC) clinical stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for antiviral therapy. The Company's novel nanoviricide^™ class of drug candidates and the nanoviricide^™ technology are based on intellectual property, technology and proprietary know-how of TheraCour Pharma, Inc. The Company has a Memorandum of Understanding with TheraCour for the development of drugs based on these technologies for all antiviral infections. The MoU does not include cancer and similar diseases that may have viral origin but require different kinds of treatments.

The Company has obtained broad, exclusive, sub-licensable, field licenses to drugs developed in several licensed fields from TheraCour Pharma, Inc. The Company's business model is based on licensing technology from TheraCour Pharma Inc. for specific application verticals of specific viruses, as established at its foundation in 2005.

Our lead drug candidate is NV-387, a broad-spectrum antiviral drug that we plan to develop as a treatment of RSV, COVID, Long COVID, Influenza, and other respiratory viral infections, as well as MPOX/Smallpox infections. Our other advanced drug candidate is NV-HHV-1 for the treatment of Shingles. The Company cannot project an exact date for filing an IND for any of its drugs because of dependence on a number of external collaborators and consultants. The Company is currently focused on advancing NV-387 into Phase II human clinical trials.

The Company is also developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including oral and genital Herpes, viral diseases of the eye including EKC and herpes keratitis, H1N1 swine flu, H5N1 bird flu, seasonal Influenza, HIV, Hepatitis C, Rabies, Dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others. NanoViricides' platform technology and programs are based on the TheraCour^® nanomedicine technology of TheraCour, which TheraCour licenses from AllExcel. NanoViricides holds a worldwide exclusive perpetual license to this technology for several drugs with specific targeting mechanisms in perpetuity for the treatment of the following human viral diseases: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV/AIDS), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Rabies, Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2), Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV), Influenza and Asian Bird Flu Virus, Dengue viruses, Japanese Encephalitis virus, West Nile Virus, Ebola/Marburg viruses, and certain Coronaviruses. The Company intends to obtain a license for RSV, Poxviruses, and/or Enteroviruses if the initial research is successful. As is customary, the Company must state the risk factor that the path to typical drug development of any pharmaceutical product is extremely lengthy and requires substantial capital. As with any drug development efforts by any company, there can be no assurance at this time that any of the Company's pharmaceutical candidates would show sufficient effectiveness and safety for human clinical development. Further, there can be no assurance at this time that successful results against coronavirus in our lab will lead to successful clinical trials or a successful pharmaceutical product.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events. Actual events could differ materially and substantially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors. Certain statements in this release, and other written or oral statements made by NanoViricides, Inc. are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in documents filed by the company from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities. Although it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors, they may include the following: demonstration and proof of principle in preclinical trials that a nanoviricide is safe and effective; successful development of our product candidates; our ability to seek and obtain regulatory approvals, including with respect to the indications we are seeking; the successful commercialization of our product candidates; and market acceptance of our products.

The phrases "safety", "effectiveness" and equivalent phrases as used in this press release refer to research findings including clinical trials as the customary research usage and do not indicate evaluation of safety or effectiveness by the US FDA.

FDA refers to US Food and Drug Administration. IND application refers to "Investigational New Drug" application. cGMP refers to current Good Manufacturing Practices. CMC refers to "Chemistry, Manufacture, and Controls". CHMP refers to the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, which is the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) committee responsible for human medicines. API stands for "Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient". WHO is the World Health Organization. R&D refers to Research and Development.

Contact:
NanoViricides, Inc.
[email protected]

Public Relations Contact:
[email protected]

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

S.Cloutier--SMC