Recce Pharma shares surge on COVID advance

Preliminary data is expected in September and Recce will retain all intellectual property rights.

Shares in Recce Pharma have surged more than 24 per cent after a US-based respiratory treatment company selected two of its drugs to help combat COVID-19 infections.

Shares in Recce Pharma have surged more than 26 per cent after a US-based respiratory treatment company selected two of its drugs to help combat COVID-19 infections.

The two drugs, Recce 327 and Recce 539 are the same compounds that the CSIRO is also studying as part of its coronavirus fight.

US-based Path BioAnalytics will study those compounds as part of its research into SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes the COVID infection. Preliminary data is expected in September and Recce will retain all intellectual property rights.

Recce 327 is a broad-spectrum synthetic antibiotic used to treat blood infections and sepsis, while Recce 529 is a synthetic polymer formulation to treat infections. Following the news of the US partnership on Thursday afternoon, Recce shares jumped 26.6 per cent to $1.45 by the close, against a broader sharemarket drop of 0.7 per cent.

“The current pandemic underscores the need for more effective treatment approaches to prevent infectious diseases,” Recce chairman John Prendergast said.

“Over the past few months Recce has received a number of expressions of interest from several universities and research organisations to collaborate on the development of potential new therapies to address the unmet needs of patients with COVID-19.

“We’re excited to be working with experts at Path BioAnalytics to investigate the potential effectiveness of Recce’s compounds in treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection using their advanced respiratory organoid model system.”

The company’s respiratory organoids are pseudo-stratified, or closely packed, derived from primary respiratory cells that replicate the airway physiology and are amenable to SARS- CoV-2 infection.

Already Recce’s two drugs have been granted Priority 1 status in Australia, which means they have the “highest or strong likelihood of antiviral or antiseptic efficacy”.

The need for an effective treatment for COVID-19 is growing, given a vaccine is at least a year away under the most bullish forecasts. In the past week, the US recorded an average of 62,000 coronavirus infections a day, while Florida reported a record 132 coronavirus-related deaths in one day on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in Australia Victoria’s fresh outbreak is yet to reach its peak, recording 238 new cases on Wednesday.