MultiCell’s drug candidate, MCT-465 is a Toll-like Receptor (TLR) agonist, and is indicated as a prospective adjuvant therapy for the treatment of virus infections. MCT-465 is designed to exploit the body’s ability to recognize generic molecules related to pathogens. In preclinical studies, originally published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, MCT-465 reduced pulmonary influenza A H1N1 virus titers by 1,000-fold in mouse models, resulting in barely detectable levels of the virus, illustrated in the figure below. The results suggest MCT-465 may also be able to reduce influenza A H5N1 viral load, also known as the “bird flu” or “avian flu” virus. The H5N1 strain of influenza A virus is genetically similar to the H1N1 strain of influenza A virus. MultiCell is planning further preclinical studies to determine the effectiveness of MCT-465 as an adjuvant therapy for the treatment of influenza A virus infection.