Relief Therapeutics seeks U.S. emergency approval for drug against COVID-19

FILE PHOTO: A computer image created by Nexu Science Communication together with Trinity College in Dublin, shows a model structurally representative of a betacoronavirus which is the type of virus linked to COVID-19, better known as the coronavirus linked to the Wuhan outbreak, shared with Reuters on February 18, 2020. NEXU Science Communication/via REUTERS/File Photo

Relief Therapeutics said on Wednesday it and U.S. partner NeuroRx asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency approval for a drug it aims to repurpose against COVID-19, citing a 51-person study the Swiss drugmaker said showed the medicine helped sick patients.

"Patients treated with RLF-100 demonstrated a 3-fold advantage in survival, recovery from respiratory failure, and other parameters indicative of meaningful clinical improvement," the company said in a statement, adding the request, if granted, would make the drug -- previously used against conditions including erectile dysfunction -- available to those in intensive care who have exhausted all approved treatments.

(Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Michael Shields)