Relief and NeuroRx zone in on type 2 alveolar cells in COVID-19 trial

Swiss biotech Relief Therapeutics (SWX: RLF) and its US partner, NeuroRx, have announced the start of treatment of patients with RLF-100 at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

This is part of a Phase IIb/III trial to assess RLF-100 as a treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in COVID-19 patients on mechanical ventilation.

"There is an urgent need for a treatment that can specifically protect type 2 alveolar cells and suppress excessive inflammation"RLF-100 is a patented formulation of aviptadil, a synthetic human vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, that targets alveolar type 2 cells in the lungs that could be the major target of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.