Chelation Partners’ Lead COVID-19 Product Shows Promise for Sepsis

New published report highlights DIBI in development for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases

Chelation Partners is a Canadian company focused on medical indications related to iron availability including infectious disease, cancer and inflammatory disorders. Its lead molecule, DIBI, is a non-toxic, ultra-potent iron chelator. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the company to pivot research and development efforts towards several approaches to mitigate morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 patients, including potentially treating sepsis, cytokine storm and ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) in seriously affected patients.

In a report published May 26, 2020, in the journal Antibiotics, a research group led by Christian Lehmann of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, provided further evidence that DIBI may be useful in sepsis. “The goal of this study was to assess the effects of the novel iron chelator, DIBI, on the immune response to systemic inflammation induced by Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial toxins.” according to the report. The authors concluded that “DIBI treatment decreased leukocyte (hyper-)activation induced by Gram-positive and Gram-negative toxins. In some cases, it preserved capillary perfusion, reduced plasma inflammatory markers and attenuated tissue damage. These findings support the utility of DIBI as a novel treatment for systemic inflammation, e.g., sepsis.”

These findings reinforce two previously published research reports from the same team which also supported DIBI as a candidate drug for sepsis treatment.

“This new report shows yet again that the potential for DIBI in sepsis goes beyond its anti-infective properties especially given the striking similarities between COVID-19 viral and bacterial sepsis” said Bruce Holbein, one of the study co-authors and Chief Scientific Officer of Chelation Partners.

The company is pursuing early entry into clinical development to investigate potential benefits in COVID-19 patients.

DIBI

DIBI is a water soluble, 9kDa, polymer anti-infective agent equipotent against drug resistant organisms, which also has strong potential for treating COVID-19 patients. DIBI exploits the absolute requirement of pathogens for iron in order to grow and reproduce. DIBI scavenges the iron required for infections, yet is non-toxic. It has single µM MICs (minimal inhibitory concentration) for bacteria and fungi as demonstrated in published models of infection, and synergistic benefits when administered with conventional anti-infective agents. DIBI alone was as effective as the antibiotic standard of care in a real-world disease in dogs in a community veterinary setting. DIBI has potential COVID-19 therapeutic applications: direct SARS-CoV-2 antiviral effects through iron sequestration and/or receptor modulation and potential reduction in COVID-19 mortality due to benefits of DIBI on cytokine storm and secondary pneumonia.

About Chelation Partners

Chelation Partners is a Nova Scotia, Canada company focused on medical indications related to iron availability including infectious disease, cancer and others. Chelation’s lead product candidate DIBI fits the ideal product profile for an anti-pathogen agent; DIBI is non-toxic, removes iron in manner pathogens cannot circumvent, inhibits pathogen growth, enhances vulnerability to other pathogen-specific agents, is very broad spectrum and has single µM MICs (minimal inhibitory concentration) against even drug resistant pathogens. Multiple peer-review studies demonstrate DIBI’s effectiveness against bacterial and fungal pathogens in various animal models. Iron sequestration has applications in other diseases and in published cancer research, DIBI inhibits cancer cell growth and acts as a strong sensitizer to conventional chemotherapy.