Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a severe medical condition that is triggered by an alveolar capillary membrane damage resulted from several causes. Among these causes, respiratory viral infections such as SARS-CoV-2 can be responsible for the development of the disease. ARDS presents a high mortality rate, which may range from 33-52%. The main difficulty for the treatment of this disease is dealing with hypoxia.~Nitric Oxide inhalation therapy has proven to increase oxygenation and Ventilation/Perfusion by it's vasodilation property. However, there are several limitations for it's use, such as the need of a specialized equipment, systemic side effects, etc. The use of others vasodilation medications are not indicated due to their systemic systemic exposure and non-selective vasodilation.~BZ371B is a small peptide that acts as a NO synthase (NOS) enhancer, inducing local NO production, and is capable to present local vasodilation effect increasing blood flow regulation, by a new and innovative mechanism of action.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate safety, tolerability and efficacy of BZ371B in intubated patients with severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.