Stock Alert: Hepion Pharma Jumps 35%

(RTTNews) - Shares of Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (HEPA) are rising over 35% on Tuesday morning. The biopharmaceutical company announced that its anti-fibrotic drug candidate was efficacious in two pre-clinical research related to COVID-19.

HEPA is currently trading at $3.93, up $1.05 or 36.4583%, on the Nasdaq.

Hepion, a pharma company focusing on the development of therapeutic drugs for the treatment of liver disease arising from non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, said its clinical phase, anti-fibrotic drug candidate, CRV431, was efficacious in two distinct preclinical research models related to COVID-19 disease.

Firstly, CRV431 demonstrated strong anti-inflammatory actions in a non-viral, acute lung injury model and on some measures outperformed dexamethasone, a recently recommended treatment for COVID-19.

Secondly, cell culture experiments demonstrated CRV431 antiviral activity towards SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19 disease.