EmitBio’s investigational, targeted light-based COVID-19 therapeutic device has shown promising results in a phase 1/2 trial, the Durham, N.C., company has announced.

The small trial, which enrolled 35 participants with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, found that four days of treatment with the EmitBio device reduced average viral load of SARS-CoV-2 by 99.9 percent and sped up the time symptoms resolved by more than 48 hours compared to placebo. Additionally, viral load continued to decrease after treatment concluded, the company said. No treatment-related adverse events were observed in the study.

The handheld device directs precise wavelengths of targeted light to the back of the throat and surrounding tissues and is designed for at-home treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adult patients. The company has now filed a submission for FDA Emergency Use Authorization.