Lamellar Biomedical launches program designed to prevent the severe respiratory effects of COVID-19, using its unique LAMELLASOME™ Technology

Glasgow, UK – 08^th April 2020 - Lamellar Biomedical Limited (Lamellar), an innovative biotechnology company pioneering new approaches to address respiratory diseases and complex lung disorders with its LAMELLASOME™ platform, announces the launch of a program to address the potentially fatal consequences of COVID-19 on respiratory function.

A LAMELLASOME™ nebulised treatment used at the early stages of COVID-19, in hospital or the community, could reduce the damaging and often fatal inflammatory response known as Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) seen in patients. This early intervention has the potential to inhibit fibroproliferative changes during ARDS, markedly reducing severity, mortality and lowering the significant burden placed on the healthcare system.

The time between onset of symptoms of SARS-CoV2 infection and progression to more severe clinical manifestations of COVID-19 such as viral pneumonia and ARDS, is thought to be between 5 – 8 days. Inhaled LAMELLASOME™ treatment administered during this period has the potential to halt or reduce the severity of the disease progression of COVID-19 patients to requiring scarce critical care resource.

Lamellar has strong pre-clinical evidence of inhaled LAMELLASOME™’s protective nature. In a large animal in‑vivo model of radiation-induced lung injury, designed to replicate the pathology found in the injured lung, which is representative of COVID-19 patient pathology, inhaled LAMELLASOME™ treatment protected lung cells and tissues from injury, pneumonitis and fibroproliferation/fibrosis at the alveolar/capillary membrane.

Dr Duncan Moore, Chairman of Lamellar, said: “In the past few weeks we have seen the terrible consequences COVID-19 can have on the respiratory function, particularly on vulnerable patient populations. We believe that that the inherent attributes of LAMELLASOME™ are extremely well suited to be a potential approach to preventing the onset of the serious respiratory symptoms seen in COVID-19 patients. Lamellar is focused on treating complex lung disorders and we believe that our Lamellasome formulations could make an important difference to patients and healthcare providers globally.”

Dr Nik Hirani, Reader in Respiratory Medicine and Associate Medical Director in Lothian and Former chair of NICE Thoracic Interstitial Lung Disease guideline committee, said: “Lamellar has very convincing data demonstrating strong in-vivo efficacy for Lamellasome formulations in a model relevant to pneumonitis, lung injury and ARDS. I have been following the development of LAMELLASOME™ technology and its development as a respiratory therapeutic over the past few years, and I believe it has real potential to manage the inflammatory respiratory symptoms seen in patients infected with SARS-CoV2.”