Progress of NanoViricides' Shingles Drug Program Presented at the 31st International Conference on Antiviral Research

SHELTON, Conn., June 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- NanoViricides, Inc. (NYSE MKT: NNVC) (the "Company"), reports that important progress of its anti-shingles nanoviricides® drug candidates was presented at the 31st International Conference on Antiviral Research held June 11 - June 15, 2018 in Porto, Portugal, https://www.isar-icar.com/page/31icar. 

The presentation showed that nanoviricide topical treatment of the cultured human skin was highly effective. In addition, the treatment was well tolerated with no apparent adverse effects.  The Company is further advancing these drug candidates towards selection of a final candidate and formal safety/toxicology studies as needed for filing a Investigational New Drug Application (IND) with the US FDA. IND filing is a critical step for beginning human clinical studies.

The scientific presentation was well received. It is considered an important scientific and technological advance in the treatment of shingles. There is no treatment or cure for shingles at present, although a new vaccine has recently been introduced, in addition to an older vaccine.

The presentation demonstrated excellent effectiveness of the nanoviricides® drug candidates against shingles virus.  The HerpeCidetm program drug candidates caused marked inhibition of infection by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the shingles virus, in human skin without overt adverse effects.  The results were presented by Dongmei Liu and Dr. Jennifer Moffat of SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY.

VZV is restricted to human tissue and only infects and replicates in human cells and tissue.  In humans, VZV causes skin lesions as a result of direct attack of the re-awakened virus released from nerve endings that infects the human skin cells. 

The nanoviricides® drug candidates caused marked inhibition of VZV infection, replication and spread, over the entire time course of VZV infection in human skin cultures.  This was shown by direct assay of viral infection of human skin. In addition, normal skin architecture was found to be preserved in microscopic tissue analysis of VZV-infected, nanoviricide-treated human skin, indicating excellent preliminary tolerability and safety. 

The Company previously reported the collaboration with Dr. Jennifer Moffat, SUNY Upstate Medical University, an internationally recognized expert on varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection, pathogenesis, and anti-viral agent discovery.  Since VZV is restricted to human tissue, Dr. Moffat's human skin organ culture model of VZV infection is considered to be an optimal model of the natural course of shingles virus infection. It is the only model in which topically applied drugs can be evaluated for the efficacy, potency, and preliminary safety. 

The Company is focusing on these studies in Dr. Moffat's lab as a critical step in the selection of final clinical drug development candidates for safety and toxicology studies with the goal of an IND submission to the FDA for the topical treatment of shingles in humans in the very near future.

The International Conference on Antiviral Research is an annual conference attracting chemists, biologists and clinicians.  It is hosted by the International Society for Antiviral Research (ISAR), an internationally recognized organization for scientists involved in basic, applied, and clinical aspects of antiviral research. 

About NanoViricides 
NanoViricides, Inc. (www.nanoviricides.com) is a development stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for antiviral therapy. The Company's novel nanoviricide® class of drug candidates are designed to specifically attack enveloped virus particles and to dismantle them. The Company is developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including oral and genital Herpes, viral diseases of the eye including EKC and herpes keratitis, H1N1 swine flu, H5N1 bird flu, seasonal Influenza, HIV, Hepatitis C, Rabies, Dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others. This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events. Actual events could differ materially and substantially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors. Certain statements in this release, and other written or oral statements made by NanoViricides, Inc. are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in documents filed by the company from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities.  Although it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors, they may include the following: demonstration and proof of principle in preclinical trials that a nanoviricide is safe and effective; successful development of our product candidates; our ability to seek and obtain regulatory approvals, including with respect to the indications we are seeking; the successful commercialization of our product candidates; and market acceptance of our products.

SOURCE NanoViricides, Inc.