Philadelphia Scientist and President of Epitek Inc., Dr. Steven Baranowitz, urges doctors to pay attention to current prescription medication (MMF/MPA) that can be clinically tested against COVID-19

Media Contact: Graziella DiNuzzo, gdinuzzo@wtcphila.org, 609.680.7670
 
Philadelphia, PA….March 31, 2020….Dr. Steven Baranowitz, President of Epitek, and a member of the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia, is eager to work with physicians, hospitals, state and federal officials across the United States to clinically test a specific prescription medication for treatment of patients with COVID-19 .
 
With the help of World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia (WTCGP) trade specialist, Dale Foote, Dr. Baranowitz has been working with PA Authorized Trade Representatives, in Germany (covering Italy, Austria and Switzerland), South Korea, and India to locate health and hospital officials who will want to learn more.
 
 “There are medications currently available by prescription in the US which are documented to kill most coronavirus strains in the laboratory. The medications are sold for a different use but could be clinically tested in the US to treat patients. They are anti-viral in a dose smaller than the dose for the current use,” says Dr. Baranowitz.
 
The medications have been demonstrated by Baranowitz to be broad spectrum antivirals, in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), over the last 4 years. Dr Baranowitz has 28 years of drug development experience in the pharmaceutical industry, and believes that physicians, hospitals, state and federal government could use these medications rapidly in new emergency clinical trials.

Epitek focuses on two drugs documented to kill most Coronaviruses. The drugs are CURRENTLY MARKETED for a completely different use. One is widely available and inexpensive. For anti-viral effect, Epitek believes that the drug can be used at 10% or less of the dose for the currently marketed indication. The drugs inhibit inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH), which is a critical enzyme for increasing the body's pool of the nucleoside guanosine. Guanosine is indispensable to the virus for replicating its RNA.

“A COVID research paper was published a few days ago by a different research group, saying that mycophenolic acid (MPA), which is the active ingredient in mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is a good candidate for clinical testing,” says Dr. Baranowitz
 
About Steven A. Baranowitz MD MS MBA President
The President of Epitek is Dr. Steven Baranowitz. Dr Baranowitz is a successful Pharmaceutical/Biotech Scientist, Physician, and an entrepreneur with many patents to his credit. Having served as Medical Director at several major Pharmaceutical companies, as well as Biotechs, Dr. Baranowitz brings a wealth of industry experience with both large and small companies. He is a recognized expert in pharmaceutical Drug Safety and Clinical Trials and has consulted for many well known companies in these areas. He worked ensuring the safety of Vaccines, both marketed and in development, as a consultant to Sanofi-Pasteur in the past.

Dr. Baranowitz is an inventor with over ten US and International patents on new potential treatments for a variety of diseases in fields including virology, oncology, ophthalmology, and regenerative medicine.
A graduate of the New York University School of Medicine, Dr. Baranowitz completed specialty training in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

He obtained research expertise in Developmental Biology while earning his Master of Science degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and his Bachelor of Science degree at Brooklyn College. His business training included the M.B.A. he obtained from Fairleigh-Dickinson University and his licensing and product evaluation experience at several pharmaceutical companies.

Dr. Baranowitz was honored by the University of Oxford in England when its Center for Mathematical Biology sponsored him as a visiting scientist. As a guest of the University, he lectured and collaborated in original research. During his stay, he also gave an invited guest seminar at the National Institute for Medical Research in London.

He continues actively collaborating in research with the National Institutes of Health, the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, and Temple University; he has in the past conducted research at U.S. Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Dr. Baranowitz has presented papers at international symposia and his research has been published in several scientific journals including the Journal of Theoretical Biology, Macromolecules, and the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Baranowitz continues active research at his office in Philadelphia, which is adjacent to Drexel University. Over 35 Drexel undergraduate and graduate coops (interns) have been trained by him in the last five years, and this educational and research collaboration in ongoing. Dr. Baranowitz is a resident of Wyncote, PA.​


About the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia
The World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia (WTCGP) is one of over 320 World Trade Centers in 89 countries around the globe. A non-profit and membership - based organization, the WTCGP accelerates global business growth for companies in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey by providing customized, one-on-one trade counseling, market research, educational programs, trade mission and trade show support, business networking events, and powerful connections to customers and partners worldwide. Since 2002, the WTCGP has served as a catalyst for regional economic growth and job creation, helping area companies generate over $2B in incremental export sales, supporting over 26,000 jobs.  www.wtcphila.org