By Michael Dabaie

Qualigen Therapeutics Inc. submitted an investigational new drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for QN-165, initially targeted for the treatment of Covid-19 in hospitalized patients.

In premarket trading, its shares were up 8% to $1.93.

The biotechnology company focused on cancer and viral diseases said QN-165 exhibited antiviral activity in multiple in vitro tests against different viruses.

"QN-165 is a unique drug candidate that has a completely different approach to attacking a virus, which we think will enable it to work against all virus strains and variants," Chief Executive Michael Poirier said.

QN-165 is a piece of synthetic DNA that doesn't attack the coronavirus directly but targets and binds to the nucleolin protein, the company said. Viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 exploit nucleolin to gain access to a cell and manipulate it for its own viral replication purposes, the company said. Qualigen said it believes QN-165, by tying up nucleolin, prevents the virus replication process.

Write to Michael Dabaie at michael.dabaie@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-14-21 0805ET