BOCA RATON, Fla.—Connectyx Technologies Holdings Group, Inc. (OTC: CTYX), a development-stage biomedical company focusing on novel treatments for rare diseases, announced it has entered into an exclusive patent license agreement to practice inventions contained within the patent applications listed below with the National Eye Institute. (NEI), of the National Institutes of Health. (NIH), including the repurposed use of metformin to treat retinal degeneration (RD). Paul Michaels, chairman and president of Connectyx, said, “We are pleased to expand our product portfolio with the addition of reformulated and repurposed metformin, which is the fifth most prescribed drug in the U.S.

“This very promising product adds a second in licensed product from the NIH to our development portfolio. We believe our metformin reformulation may show efficacy in treating a wide range of RD diseases that cause vision loss. We are focused on developing disease modifying therapeutics to meet the unmet needs of patients."

The license patent rights include U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/899,899 and titled, “Druggable Targets to Treat Retinal Degeneration” filed Sept. 13, 2019 (E-227-2017-US-01); International Patent Application No.: PCT/US2020/050540 and titled, “Druggable Targets to Treat Retinal Degeneration” filed Sept. 11, 2020 (E-227-2017-PCT-O2); and U.S. and foreign patent applications claiming priority to the applications. The territory for the exclusive license is worldwide.

The degeneration of the Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) is associated with various types of RD such as Stargardt disease, retinitis pigmentosa, choroideremia, late-onset retinal degeneration (L-ORD), and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In the U.S., 11 million people are affected by some form of AMD.

Connectyx's announcement said, "Research has shown that metformin, an FDA-approved drug that has been widely used for the treatment of diabetes in the U.S. since 1995, can activate AMP-activated protein kinase, can reduce vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion, and can correct baseline calcium levels in patient RPE cells. The new treatment indications will require reformulating the drug into an eye drop, injectable or other topical delivery method to be able to deliver sufficient drug to the RPE layer to have a therapeutic effect."

Connextyx added that this reformulated drug should be eligible for a 505(b)(2) accelerated development path. While the field of use covers treating any degenerative eye disease, the company is targeting Stargardt, a currently untreatable orphan disease that causes vision loss in children, as the first indication for this therapeutic product.

Michaels added, "The company anticipates being prepared for human testing of this reformulation by the third quarter of 2022.”

In November, Connectyx announced it is changing its name to Curative Biotechnology, Inc. and has applied for the name change and a trading symbol (CURB) with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., which should take effect in the first quarter of 2021. The company expects to rename itself as Curative Biotech.

NEI leads the federal government’s research on the visual system and eye diseases. NEI supports basic and clinical science programs to develop sight-saving treatments and address special needs of people with vision loss.