Auris Medical skyrockets 480% after announcing lab-test results that show its nasal spray could protect against COVID-19

• Auris Medical soared as high as 480% on Tuesday on news that its nasal spray AM-301 could protect against the coronavirus.
• The clinical-stage company tested its spray on human nasal cells in a lab and found that cells treated with AM-301 right before inoculation of the coronavirus had effective protection.
• In cells treated with the spray, the amount of the coronavirus was 90% lower than in control groups 48 hours after infection.
• Watch Auris Medical trade live here.

Auris Medical soared as high as 480% on Tuesday after it announced lab-test results that showed its nasal spray could protect against the coronavirus. Shares of the Bermuda-based clinical-stage company were trading at over $5 per share after closing at just $1.1 on Monday.

Auris tested its nasal spray AM-301 on human nasal cells reconstituted in a lab. Auris found that cultures treated with AM-301 right before inoculation with the coronavirus had effective protection against the virus.

The amount of virus was 90% lower 48 hours after infection than that observed in controls. And 72 hours after infection, the virus was 99.2% lower. In saline-treated control cultures, the coronavirus replicated efficiently.

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"With our newly developed spray formulation, we have direct evidence that AM-301 has the potential to significantly mitigate the risk of infection of nasal mucosal cells," Auris Medical CEO Thomas Meyer said.

Meyer said Auris would take AM-301 through additional tests and look to submit to regulatory applications in 2021.

AM-301 is a drug-free nasal spray being developed by Auris' affiliate, Altamira Medica.