What happened
Biotech Enochian BioSciences (ENOB -7.44%) enjoyed a nice share price lift on Monday. The small-cap stock rocked 12% higher at one point, although it ultimately cooled down to a 1.2% gain on the day.
So what
That morning, Enochian announced that it had acquired an exclusive license for a novel approach for treating coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV-2 (the one that causes COVID-19), and influenza.
In the company's words, this technology "tricks the viruses to trigger the cells it infects to commit suicide instead of becoming a virus-making factory."
Image source: Getty Images.
Enochian explained that this technique is effected through a nanoparticle, which gives scope for either rapid treatment of an infection, or an "ambush" in which it effectively waits in a cell for infection, then strikes. This technology was developed by the biotech's co-founder Serhat Gumrukcu.
While SARS-CoV-2 hospitalizations and fatalities are down considerably throughout the U.S., there are regions both here and abroad where the coronavirus is still on the rise. Additionally, though there are several vaccines available to inoculate against it, so far there is only one drug -- Gilead Sciences' (GILD 0.61%) Veklury, or remdesivir -- approved by the FDA for use in its treatment.
Now what
Enochian said it will submit, in the proximate future, a request with the FDA for a pre-Investigator New Drug meeting. This is one of three types of investigational new drug (IND) submittals; these are formal applications that allow novel treatments or technologies to undergo clinical testing on human subjects.
