Charak Foundation – Martin Ogletree and Ajay Gupta

Open Philanthropy awarded a grant of $195,600 to fund the initial stages of a clinical trial of ramatroban for the suppression of life-threatening symptoms of COVID-19 infections.

Ramatroban is an oral therapy approved for sale and use against allergic rhinitis in Japan, and has been used for over twenty years without incident. The drug targets prostaglandin D2 and thromboxane A2 pathways that play roles in immune response and microvascular function. Open Philanthropy is supporting the RAMBAN-1 Phase 2/3 randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial through the Charak Foundation. The trial will evaluate Ramatroban’s safety and efficacy in speeding recovery in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia with a 28-day course of treatment. The RAMBAN-1 trial will also explore if the 28-day treatment of acute disease with Ramatroban reduces the risks of subsequent development of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (“long COVID”) over the ensuing 11 months. The trial began recruiting in January 2023 and is also supported by the United States Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).