Traws Pharma's COVID-19 Candidate, Ratutrelvir, Presented at ICAR

Core Viewpoint - Traws Pharma, Inc. has presented positive data for ratutrelvir, a main protease inhibitor, as a potential treatment for COVID-19, highlighting its advantages over current therapies, particularly the lack of need for co-administration with ritonavir [1][2][4]. Company Overview - Traws Pharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapies for respiratory viral diseases, including COVID-19 [9][10]. - The company aims to create safe antiviral agents with simple dosing regimens and is committed to accelerated clinical trial strategies [9]. Product Development - Ratutrelvir is designed to be an oral, small molecule Mpro inhibitor that can be used without ritonavir, potentially avoiding drug-drug interactions and expanding patient eligibility [7][10]. - Preclinical and Phase 1 studies indicate that ratutrelvir maintains blood plasma levels approximately 13 times above the EC50, which may reduce the likelihood of clinical rebound and long COVID [7][6]. Clinical Data - Data presented at the International Conference for Antiviral Research (ICAR 2025) demonstrated that ratutrelvir effectively suppressed replication of 18 different SARS-CoV-2 strains, including Omicron variants [2][5]. - Phase 1 results showed excellent safety and tolerability, with a selected Phase 2 dosing regimen of 600 mg/day for 10 days [3][6]. Future Plans - The company is preparing to engage with the FDA to discuss the path forward for ratutrelvir and plans to initiate Phase 2 studies [4][2]. - An Investor Event is scheduled for March 31, 2025, to present an overview of preclinical and human data on ratutrelvir [4][2].