Eisai's eritoran revived as COVID-19 hopeful

A TLR-4 antagonist has been selected as the first investigational immune modulation therapy to be included in the “moderate” arm of an adaptive trial testing therapies against COVID-19.

Eritoran, an investigational TLR-4 antagonist discovered and developed by Japanese drug major Eisai (TYO: 4523), will be included in the REMAP-COVID study, led by the Los Angeles-based non-profit Global Coalition for Adaptive Research (GCAR).

Eisai was previously developing the candidate for the treatment of severe sepsis, but late-stage failures in 2011 and 2013 put paid to the program.