Modified erectile dysfunction drug ‘shows promise’ with COVID-19 patients, says doctor

A modified version of a drug normally prescribed to treat erectile dysfunction in adult males has shown promising results with coronavirus patients, according to a small pharmaceutical company behind its clinical testing.

Jonathan Javitt, the CEO of the American-Israeli NeuroRx, has developed a different version of aviptadil.

When administered in combination with another drug, phentolamine, as well as sexual stimulation, aviptadil is “expected to provide a new and effective alternative for erectile dysfunction (ED) patients.”

The drug, which is normally applied via penile injections, has been repurposed by Javitt. The new version is currently undergoing clinical trials in five U.S. hospitals.

NeuroRx partnered with Swiss drug maker Relief Therapeutics to develop the modified aviptadil — called RLF-100.

The companies are now carrying out two phase 2/3 trials to determine the efficacy of RLF-100 in patients with moderate or severe COVID-19.

Though results from the trials are not yet available, Javitt released a report on six patients who received the drug outside the trials, and said that the results are promising.

The Pharmaceutical Business Review website reported that the companies noted rapid recovery time in patients on ventilators, following three days of treatment with the drug.

“If you ask me whether this is the cure to COVID, my answer is that I don’t know, but it shows promise, and I hope so,” Javitt told The Times of Israel.

“As far as I know, this is the first drug to treat COVID with which the [lung] X-ray gets better, the blood oxygen gets better, and cytokines drop very quickly,” he said, referring to protein produced by coronavirus patients that can be harmful to their bodies.

“No other antiviral agent has demonstrated rapid recovery from viral infection and demonstrated laboratory inhibition of viral replication,” he said in a statement.

On Thursday, the FDA granted “Investigational New Drug (IND) permission to test RLF-100 (aviptadil) for inhaled use in patients with moderate and severe COVID-19 in order to prevent progression to respiratory failure,” the companies said in a press release.

Clinical trials of the inhaled formulation of RLF-100 are expected to begin next month.