 CohBar, Inc. CWBR, a clinical stage biotechnology company developing mitochondria based therapeutics to treat chronic diseases and extend healthy lifespan, announced today that it has initiated testing of its CB5064 analogs in preclinical models of ARDS, to assess their potential as therapeutics for coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19 associated ARDS. In preclinical studies to date, these peptides have demonstrated the ability to activate the apelin receptor, a cell signaling pathway that published preclinical studies have shown can reduce the severity of acute lung injury by reducing lung fluid accumulation, hypoxemia, and cytokine secretion, which occur in COVID-19 associated ARDS, and lead to downstream injury to the kidney, heart, and other organs. 