June 12, 2008 — NanoViricides, Inc., a development-stage company creating special purpose nanomaterials for viral therapy, says the results of a recent study demonstrate the rapid response of animals to treatment using the company’s nanoviricide drug candidate against Epidemic Kerato-Conjunctivitis (EKC).

Rabbits’ eyes treated with the nanoviricide drug candidate showed virtual absence of inflammation and significant decrease in the redness of the area surrounding the cornea (the conjunctiva). The eyes treated with a negative control eye wash solution show the usual redness and inflammation caused by the disease. Substantial improvement occurred within two and a half days after treatment in this preliminary study, the company says. Further biological analyses are in progress.

“This may be the very first demonstration of a rapid and clear clinical response against adenoviral EKC,” says Anil R. Diwan, PhD, president of NanoViricides. “The robustness of the nanoviricides technology is also now amply evident. We have demonstrated industry-leading efficacies in our very first experiments against widely varying viral diseases such as common influenza, H5N1 bird flu, rabies, Ebola, and now adenoviral EKC.”

“We plan to evaluate this broad-spectrum eye-drop formulation against other viruses causing inflammation of the eye such as herpes simplex virus (HSV),” adds Eugene Seymour, MD, MPH, CEO of the company. While the company currently has no approved product for the treatment of EKC and viral conjunctivitis, the treatment and prophylaxis market for these classes of eye disease is expected to be of the order of several billion dollars annually.