Success against devastating viruses increases at pace

Nelson, New Zealand – 19 June 2024 – Kimer Med’s success against devastating viruses increases at pace, as need for pandemic preparedness intensifies

Biotech company Kimer Med’s antivirals have registered hits against another four viruses, with their success to date now totalling 14 viruses, including potential pandemic threats.

The announcement comes as the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness report is released, criticising world leaders for not being prepared for the next pandemic, leaving billions vulnerable.

The award-winning small pharma company is striving to eradicate viral disease and provide protection against future pandemics, by developing and commercialising a family of broad-spectrum antivirals.

Kimer Med lead scientist Dr Rishi Pandey said he is thrilled with the results against four additional viruses, but not surprised.

“It was clear during early testing of our antivirals that our drug development platform worked,” Pandey said. “In mid-2023 we had two 100% positive results in tests against Dengue and Zika, two devastating viruses that currently have no effective treatments anywhere in the world.

“Altogether, in just 18-months, our antivirals have shown effectiveness against fourteen different human viruses, many of which have no specific treatment currently.”

Pandey said that while there are more than 200 viruses that cause death and disease in humans, there are approved antivirals to treat only 11 of them, resulting in enormous unmet medical needs.

“We have created a platform to develop effective broad-spectrum antivirals that no other biotech company has managed to do. Our antiviral has the potential of being the equivalent of penicillin for viruses, which is incredibly exciting,” Pandey said.

Kimer Med CEO and Chief Science Officer Rick Kiessig said it is excellent to see Kimer Med’s Platform continuing to produce positive results.

“The progress we are seeing in the lab is incredible, and extremely important as part of our mission to address the huge impact of viruses on people’s health and lifespan,” Kiessig said. “Some of these viruses we have had recent success against infect almost all of humanity, and are implicated in very serious secondary diseases such as chronic fatigue, Alzheimer’s, and multiple cancers, as well as degrading our immune systems as we age, making us more vulnerable to other infections.

“Although our initial focus for a therapeutic remains the Dengue virus, we continue to advocate for antivirals for pandemic preparedness in general, and as a solution for Influenza in particular, where we believe our demonstrably broad-spectrum antivirals will give us an edge against viral mutations.

“We are continuing to attract investment through our Series A capital raise so we can bring our antivirals to market as quickly as possible, starting with an antiviral to treat Dengue fever. This will have a massive global impact by reducing suffering and death among the many affected populations.”