$6M would go to light-based COVID treatment under proposed NC budget
Millions of dollars would go to a Durham company that’s developing a light-based treatment for COVID-19 under the new state spending plan proposed by Republican lawmakers.
The $27.9 billion budget proposal, released Tuesday, would send $6 million to EmitBio, a biotechnology company that recently received a patent for its photobiomodulation approach to treating the novel coronavirus.
EmitBio says it has developed a rechargeable, handheld device that directs spectrum light to the back of the throat and can deactivate viral particles before they infect cells, WRAL TechWire previously reported.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given full approval only to Remdesivir, an antiviral drug taken through intravenous therapy (IV), and Olumiant (baricitinib) to treat COVID-19.
The FDA has also given emergency use authorization to the Paxlovid and Lagevrio (molnupiravir) pills, along with other monoclonal antibody treatments. Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made molecules that act as substitute antibodies, helping a person’s immune system better recognize and respond to the virus.
Theories about the use of light to treat COVID-19 have been controversial throughout the pandemic. President Trump famously echoed online conspiracy theories in 2020 when he suggested sunlight could be injected into a COVID patient’s body as a disinfectant. High-intensity ultraviolet rays can kill bacteria.
But that’s not how EmitBio’s product works. The company says monochromatic wavelengths of non-UV light to produce natural reserves of nitric oxide and stimulate the body’s immune response. EmitBio says its product is effective after two five-minute treatments a day over four days.
EmitBio said in February that a 31-patient clinical trial showed a 99% reduction in the COVID-19 viral load in saliva for those treated with their product. The trial was a placebo-controlled, randomized and double-blind study.
Representatives of EmitBio didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Our device is the only non-systemic solution based on technology proven to have no loss in potency against any variant tested in the lab,” David Emerson, CEO of EmitBio, told WRAL TechWire in February. “Our goal is to make this treatment available globally as rapidly as possible.” Emerson also said the company’s treatment for COVID-19 could be used alongside other existing and future therapies.
Campaign finance records show the company’s executive chairman, Neal Hunter, donated $5,000 to Senate Leader Phil Berger in 2016. Berger was aware of the proposed money for EmitBio, according to his spokeswoman, Lauren Horsch. It was requested by someone in the House, she said.
House Speaker Tim Moore didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
