Theralase's ruvidar shown effective for herpes simplex

Mr. Roger DuMoulin-White reports INDEPENDENT RESEARCH DEMONSTRATES RUVIDAR EFFECTIVE IN THE DESTRUCTION OF HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS Independent preclinical data demonstrating the superiority of Theralase Technologies Inc.'s lead anti-viral candidate, ruvidar, in the destruction of herpes simplex virus Type 1, have been published and peer reviewed. The latest preclinical data were published in MDPI -- Viruses -- titled "Ruvidar -- An Effective Anti-Herpes Simplex Virus Agent." This peer-reviewed publication provides strong support that ruvidar is more effective in the treatment of HSV-1 than either acyclovir or metformin, even without light activation. Acyclovir and its derivatives are currently known as the gold standard treatment for HSV-1. According to this latest research, acyclovir and metformin had little, if any, effect on the virus once infection was established; however, ruvidar was able to have a dramatic inhibitory effect, postinfection, without light activation. In other words, in a normal human infection setting (onset of a cold sore lesion), using acyclovir or metformin had no beneficial effects; whereas, ruvidar remained highly effective in suppressing viral replication in cells that harboured active infection. Ruvidar's protection extended to preventing non-infected cells from contracting an HSV-1 infection, which minimized the spread of the disease to adjacent cells and, if used clinically, would help minimize patient duration of the disease. In further research, ruvidar was shown to be effective in the treatment of acyclovir-resistant HSV-1 mutants. This would be highly beneficial for patients who are prone to cold sore lesions that have grown resistant to treatment with acyclovir. This research underscores ruvidar's potential as a next-generation anti-viral therapy, capable of addressing both standard and drug-resistant HSV-1 infections, and supports its advancement into clinical development. Kevin M. Coombs, PhD, professor (retired), Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Manitoba, stated: "Head-to-head comparisons of ruvidar with acyclovir demonstrate that ruvidar is much more effective in attenuating HSV-1 in a number of ways; specifically: Ruvidar is more effective on a molar basis than acyclovir in reducing virus yields from new infections; hence, it would prove to be more cost-effective over all, and, unlike acyclovir, which is ineffective against already-infected cells, ruvidar was highly effective against HSV-1 in cells that already harbour infection, thus allowing its use on patients, who have already presented with a cold sore lesion. The combination of ruvidar with acyclovir was more effective than either alone; hence, combinational therapies may prove advantageous. In addition, ruvidar remained highly effective against every acyclovir-resistant HSV mutant that we tested, providing hope for patients for which acyclovir has become ineffective." Arkady Mandel, MD, PhD, DSc, chief scientific officer of Theralase, added: "Internationally, there are a limited number of anti-viral medications available to treat herpes virus infections, thus limiting a patient's options, with acyclovir and its derivatives being the most prevalent. Theralase's advanced, anti-viral technology has demonstrated very high efficacy preclinically in numerous pathogenic human viruses, including, HSV-1, all at very small molar concentrations. Ruvidar has the added benefit of being able to be effective, with or without light activation, thus allowing it to be effective in deep tissue clinical applications, where light is unable to penetrate." Dr. Mandel continued: "The therapeutic agents currently on the market lack efficacy in treating a broad spectrum of viruses while many of them demonstrate dose-limiting toxicities and associated side effects. We were extremely pleased by the latest preclinical data that demonstrated numerous advantages of ruvidar over acyclovir, which is considered the gold standard in treating herpes virus infections. Ruvidar demonstrated that it was highly effective in the prophylactic protection of cells from ongoing HSV-1 infection; hence, it could be developed for preventing HSV-1 flare-ups. As an additional bonus, ruvidar did not develop viral resistance on its own while proving to be highly effective against acyclovir-resistant HSV-1 mutants. The results of the preclinical data demonstrated that acyclovir, in combination with ruvidar, was more effective than when used alone in the inactivation of HSV-1. Collectively, these results have significant implications for the development of new approaches using ruvidar and rutherrin to enhance the efficacy of contemporary therapies for infectious diseases that are resistant or unresponsive to current standard treatments. We believe that the ruvidar-based platform technology offers significant potential to fight a broad spectrum of viruses, with the primary goal of providing a single comprehensive solution for treating HSV-1 infections." Roger DuMoulin-White, BSc, PEng, ProDir, president and chief executive officer, Theralase, stated: "The latest peer-reviewed preclinical data conducted by Dr. Coomb's lab demonstrated the superiority of ruvidar in the effective destruction of HSV-1 lesions versus acyclovir and the ability of ruvidar to provide efficacy in acyclovir-resistant HSV-1 cells. Based on the success of this latest preclinical research, Theralase has commenced formulation of ruvidar into topical form, plans to commence GLP toxicology analysis and plans to commence a phase 1/2 adaptive clinical study to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of ruvidar in the accelerated healing of cold sore lesions in humans in 2026." About herpes simplex Herpes simplex virus, known as herpes, is a very common infection that can cause painful blisters or ulcers on the skin of an individual. It primarily spreads by skin-to-skin contact, but while it is treatable, it is not curable. There are two main types of HSV Type 1 generally spreads by oral contact and causes infections in or around the mouth, vermilion, upper or lower lip region (oral herpes or cold sores). It can also cause genital herpes. A majority of adults are infected with HSV-1. Type 2 spreads by sexual contact and causes herpes in the genital region of an individual. An estimated 3.8 billion people under the age of 50 (64 per cent) globally have HSV-1, the main cause of oral herpes. An estimated 520 million people aged 15 to 49 (13 per cent) globally have HSV-2, the main cause of genital herpes. The global HSV treatment market size was estimated at $2.8-billion (U.S.) in 2024 and is expected to balloon to $4.7-billion (U.S.) by 2033. About Theralase Technologies Inc. Theralase is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to the research and development of light, radiation, sound and drug-activated small molecule compounds and their associated formulations with a primary objective of efficacy and a secondary objective of safety in the destruction of various cancers, bacteria and viruses, with minimal impact on surrounding healthy tissue. We seek Safe Harbor.