The Recce Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: RCE) share price is falling after the company released an update on its clinical pipeline. In afternoon trade, shares in Recce Pharmaceuticals are trading 0.46% lower at $1.08.
The update announced delays to the company's overseas COVID-19 animal studies.
Let's take a closer at today's news.
Recce's clinical pipeline update
COVID-19 studies
According to Recce, overseas studies testing the efficacy of its RECCE 529 on animals infected with COVID-19 variants has been delayed.
RECCE 529 is a synthetic anti-infective which has, to date, been studied as a treatment for COVID-19.
Some of the studies testing the ability of RECCE 529 to treat COVID-19 variants are experiencing delays, as labs struggle to infect ferrets with the variants.
Despite this, the company believes it will have data on the effectiveness of RECCE 529 against the UK and South African COVID-19 strains by the fourth quarter of 2021.
Meanwhile, Reece's other synthetic anti-infective which has proven to be promising against COVID-19, R327, has shown more encouraging results. It has moved to the second stage of its Australian study, with results due late this year.
Burns trial
Also underway is a human clinical trial using R327 to treat burns. The eight-month trial is being conducted at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth, Western Australia.
Recce expects data from the burns trial to be available in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Intravenous trial
R327 is also being injected intravenously in the first phase of a human clinical trial.
According to Recce, so far, injecting R327 intravenously has been found effective in treating sepsis, kidney infections, and urinary tract infections.
The first trial will see healthy patients dosed with R327 in August 2021. Recce expects interim data from the intravenous trial late this year. Full results are likely to be available mid-2022.
Helicobacter pylori pre-clinical studies
Finally, Recce Pharmaceuticals updated the market on its oral compound (RECCE 435) designed to fight helicobacter pylori infections.
The company is currently testing RECCE 435 on mice, and expects results from the pre-clinical study in mid-2022. Recce hopes the results will lead to a clinical study next year.
Recce share price snapshot
The Recce Pharmaceuticals share price has been bobbing along on the ASX so far this year. The most notable peaks were $1.26 and $1.19 in mid-April and early May respectively.
Currently, the Recce Pharmaceuticals share price is up by around 3% year to date. It has gained 32% since this time last year.
The company has a market capitalisation of around $185 million, with approximately 173 million shares outstanding.
