Orally effective FluCide anti-influenza drug candidate

NanoViricides, Inc. (OTC BB: NNVC) (the "Company") announced today that an anti-influenza drug candidate under its FluCide™ program is effective when given orally. The Company has received information that a FluCide drug candidate designed for oral administration has shown very strong efficacy in corresponding animal studies. This information was received from the contract laboratory that performed the studies, namely, KARD Scientific, Inc. The studies involved the same highly lethal animal model the Company has continued to use for its influenza drug development program. The Company is awaiting data from the studies and intends to release additional information as the data are analyzed and studied.

“We are very excited by the success of this oral administration study and look forward to the data”

"We are pleasantly surprised that the modifications that we have been studying for the development of a nanoviricide® that can be orally effective have indeed succeeded," said Anil R. Diwan, PhD, President of the Company. "Molecules that nanomedicines are comprised of are notoriously difficult to develop into orally available drugs. This is indeed a coup for our nanomedicine technologies," he further explained.

"We are very excited by the success of this oral administration study and look forward to the data," said Randall W. Barton, Chief Scientific Officer of the Company, adding "An orally available FluCide will have a significant impact on our anti-influenza program."

"An orally administered drug is highly desirable for treating out-patient influenza," elaborated Eugene Seymour, MD, MPH, CEO of the Company, adding further, "This will complement our proposed IV piggy-back therapy for the critically ill hospitalized patients. This administration route enables quick and strong response."

Nanoviricides, Inc. has been working on the development of an orally available nanoviricide for several years now. The essential chemistries were finally worked out during the CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls) studies for our current FluCide™ drug candidate. An initial feasibility study to determine whether a nanoviricide anti-influenza drug candidate would work when administered orally was undertaken perviously and had shown positive indications. The Company continued further development and has now completed a definitive animal model study to determine whether one of the FluCide anti-influenza drug candidates was effective when administered orally. The study was conducted by KARD Scientific, Inc. Dr. Krishna Menon, President of KARD and consulting Regulatory Officer for NanoViricides, Inc., has advised the Company that some of the orally administered drug candidates provided by NanoViricides showed efficacy in combatting highly lethal influenza H1N1 infection in mice.

This was a double-blind study. Until the data are received and the code is broken by the Company scientists, the identity of the FluCide drug candidates that were orally active will not be known. The Company expects to receive information from the various analyses in this study over the next several weeks, as the data are compiled and returned by analytical laboratories. The Company intends to provide additional information as the data become available and are analyzed by its scientific staff.