Relief Therapeutics and NRx Pharmaceuticals (formerly NeuroRx) said that they have settled litigation that originated with a dispute over payment for a clinical trial of nebulized aviptadil (RLF-100) for the treatment of COVID-19. According to the companies, Relief will take possession of all NRx assets related to aviptadil, “including its regulatory filings, patent applications, clinical data, and the formulation of the aviptadil product it was previously developing.” Relief will pay NRx Pharmaceuticals milestone payments and royalties up to a total of $30 million if it can successfully commercialize aviptadil.
NeuroRx announced the initiation of the Phase 2b/3 trial of nebulized aviptadil for the for the treatment of severe COVID-19 in February 2021. In April of that year, both companies issued statements regarding disputes over payment for the trial and other issues related to development of RLF-100.
Relief is currently developing inhaled aviptadil for acute respiratory distress syndrome due to COVID-19 and both intravenous and inhaled formulations of aviptadil for the treatment of pulmonary sarcoidosis and for the treatment of checkpoint inhibitor-induced pneumonitis. Nebulized formulations of RLF-100 have been used in clinical trials; NeuroRx had also explored the possibility of formulating aviptadil as a dry powder.
Read the Relief Therapeutics press release.
