 Aerpio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Aerpio ARPO and Quantum Leap Healthcare CollaborativeTM Quantum Leap announced today an agreement has been reached to evaluate razuprotafib in a new randomized, investigational treatment arm in the I-SPY COVID Trial for the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome ARDS in adult patients with moderate to severe COVID-19. Approximately 10-15 of those infected with the highly contagious SARS-CoV2 virus, the cause of COVID-19, develop ARDS with a death rate in the 2-10 range. Preclinical models, large human observational studies, and human genetic studies from leading groups worldwide have independently arrived at the concept that a vascular endothelial receptor, Tie2, may play a pivotal role in the defense against microvascular breach in acute respiratory distress syndrome ARDS 1-4. 