The next possible landmark COVID drug is so rich in Memphis DNA that if approved by the FDA, patent royalty checks will immediately flow to town, a legacy of the defunct GTx pharmaceutical company and scientists at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center who created the structure.
Sabizabulin was originally created as an anti-cancer agent in collaboration with GTx, UTHSC and Ohio State University back around 2010. It was part of the GTx’s arsenal against prostate and breast cancer. It works by collapsing the pathways through the cell — limiting, in the case of prostate cancer, the flow of androgen hormones through the body, which tend to fuel the fire.