Zacks Small Cap Research – COCP: CC-42344 Shows In Vitro Activity Against Avian Influenza A (H5N1)… – Technologist

By David Bautz, PhD

NASDAQ:COCP

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Business Update

CC-42344 Shows In Vitro Activity Against Avian Influenza H5N1 PB2 Protein

On June 20, 2024, Cocrystal Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:COCP) announced that its broad-spectrum antiviral compound CC-43244 inhibits the activity of the avian influenza A (H5N1) PB2 protein in a strain that was recently identified in dairy cattle in Texas. Using the company’s proprietary structure-based platform, Cocrystal created a high resolution crystal structure of that strains PB2 protein and confirmed that CC-42344 binds to a highly conserved region of that protein.

The following image shows the crystal structure of the PB2 protein with CC-42344 bound to it. The image also shows the location of new mutations identified on the PB2 protein, which is away from the CC-42344 binding site. Preliminary in vitro assays demonstrated that CC-42344 has high potency against avian influenza (H5N1) PB2 protein, which is likely due at least in part to the fact that CC-42344 binds to a conserved region and is not impacted by the mutations in the protein.

These results point to the importance of CC-42344 binding to a conserved region of the PB2 protein that is less prone to mutate, thus making it more likely that the compound will retain activity to both seasonal and pandemic strains of influenza.

Data Readouts Upcoming

We remind investors that the company has two important data readouts upcoming. First, we anticipate topline results from the single ascending dose (SAD) portion of the Phase 1 study of CDI-988 in the near term. Second, we anticipate topline results from the Phase 2a human challenge study of CC-42344 in the second half of 2024.

Conclusion

The power of Cocrystal’s structure-based platform is evident by the fact that CC-42344 shows activity against the avian influenza A (H5N1) PB2 protein, which shows the importance of binding location for maximizing the activity of its antiviral compounds. There are no changes to our model ahead of the upcoming data readouts and our valuation remains at $6.00 per share.

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