Medolife Rx, a subsidiary of Burbank-based Quanta Inc., presented Escozine, its scorpion venom-derived drug, at a natural resources conference in the Dominican Republic, garnering attention from international government officials.
The second day of the conference saw Medolife host international committee members from places such as Germany, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica at its 12-acre scorpion reservation. The research lab, which underwent upscaling in 2021, houses blue scorpions that are used to produce the peptide found in Escozine.
“Some members of the conference expressed interest in presenting our project to their respective countries,” Dr. Arthur Mikaelian, Medolife’s chief executive said. “We had a productive conversation with the German ambassador, who would like to present Escozine as a COVID-19 treatment to interested institutions in the German government, with plans to reconnect beginning of 2022.”
Escozine is registered as an alternative oncological medicine in the Dominican Republic. Medolife anticipates seeking approval of the drug as a COVID-19 treatment in both the United States and the Dominican Republic, according to a company statement.
Medolife also has exclusive rights for the use of the blue scorpion peptide via a 2020 agreement with the Dominican Republic Ministry of Environment (MOE), which organized the conference.
“During this international conference, we also observed a strong interest from visitors to apply Medolife’s polarization technology in different countries for the development of drugs and nutraceuticals that utilize natural resources,” Marina Hernandez, head of MOE’s genetic resources department, said in a statement.
Medolife expects to receive an export license for Escozine produced in the Dominican Republic by the end of January, according to a statement. Afterwards, the company plans to export the drug to Mexico.
The company is also working to change Quanta’s name and stock symbol. Approval is expected during the first quarter of 2022.