Results from the first five patients with severe COVID-19 infections showed substantial benefit to patients treated with opaganib under compassionate use in both clinical outcomes and inflammatory markers as compared with a retrospective matched case-control group (n=18) from the same hospital. All patients in the opaganib-treated group were discharged from hospital on room air, without having required intubation and mechanical ventilation, whereas 33% of patients in the control group required intubation and mechanical ventilation. The median time to weaning from high-flow nasal cannula was reduced to 10 days in the opaganib-treated group, as compared to 15 days in the control group. Improvement in lymphocyte counts was faster in opaganib-treated patients as compared with patients in the control group. The C-reactive protein showed faster improvement in the opaganib treated group as compared to the control group ^[2] . Updated efficacy data obtained from a clinical trial in Israel in six of the COVID-19 patients showed significant improvements following treatment with opaganib with and without hydroxychloroquine including decreased supplemental oxygen requirements, decreased C-reactive protein levels and increased lymphocyte levels. Five of the six patients analysed were weaned from oxygen, and three patients were discharged from the hospital within days of treatment initiation ^{[3] [4]} .

In the first five patients with severe COVID-19 infections (compassionate use), the treatment with opaganib was found to be safe and well tolerated. An improvement in clinical and laboratory parameters was demonstrated for opaganib-treated patients compared to matched case-controls ^[2] . Adverse events data obtained from a clinical trial in Israel in two of the COVID-19 patients indicated that at doses administered, opaginib was found to be well tolerated with no treatment emergent adverse events ^[4] .