Cure for COVID-19 this year? These are tablets that can be taken at home

After nearly 1,5 years of fighting the coronavirus pandemic, a new perspective is on the horizon. If the announcements of the Pfizer concern are confirmed, a drug for COVID-19 will appear on the market by the end of the year, which can be used similarly to drugs for the flu. For the time being, however, research into its effectiveness is underway.

1. At this stage, there are virtually no COVID-19 medications that can be used alone at home. Only symptomatic treatment is at stake
2. The only official drug for COVID-19 available in the hospital is remdesivir, but its effectiveness is still under discussion
3. With vaccines remaining the only way to protect yourself from the coronavirus, Pfizer is conducting tests. If successful, they could mean a real revolution in the approach to COVID-19
4. More current information can be found on the Onet homepage. Pfizer is working on a cure for COVID-19. It may be available later this year. Coronavirus treatment is different from that of common viral diseases. It is true that in a mild course, doctors recommend the use of symptom-relieving drugs, such as paracetamol or ibuprofen for fever, but home treatment actually ends there. What’s more, it is still not fully known what determines the course of the disease caused by the coronavirus, so it is not certain that paracetamol alone will be enough. When a patient’s condition worsens, he or she has to go to a hospital, where they can be given drugs, such as remdesivir – the only approved drug for the treatment of coronavirus. However, they are still not measures with guaranteed effectiveness in treating the disease caused by COVID-19.
5. See also: How to treat COVID-19 at home? Current recommendations of Polish experts

At the moment, the surest way to avoid the severe course of COVID-19 is to fully vaccinate, i.e. take two doses of the preparation (one in the case of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine). Pfizer, a producer of an mRNA vaccine also administered in Poland, is working on an alternative that could completely change the approach to the coronavirus. As Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, admitted in an interview with CNBC, the drug for COVID-19 may enter the market in 2021.

What do we know about Pfizer’s COVID-19 drug?

In late March 2021, clinical trials of the Pfizer drug for COVID-19 began. It is supposed to be an oral preparation that can be used on its own at home. What’s more, the immunologist Dr. Neeta Ogden in an interview with CBSN even said that the drug can not only alleviate the symptoms of COVID-19 infection, but also be used preventively, e.g. in a situation where we come into contact with a person suffering from coronavirus.

1. Editors recommend: Nearly 10 percent Cured of COVID-19 who are unable to work within three months

In turn, Albert Bourla briefly explained the mechanism of action of an antiviral drug with the working name PF-07321332. It is classified as a “protease inhibitor”, which means that it will be in the same group as drugs for HIV or hepatitis C. Moreover, it is the first drug of its kind, which means that it will be possible to combine it with others. Besides, as Bourla said, mutations in the virus are unlikely to affect the drug’s effectiveness.

Research on the drug should end in the summer. The tests are divided into three parts and are expected to last 145 days, followed by an additional 28 days for screening. PF-07321332 is to be given with a small dose of HIV medicine (ritonavir) to increase the amount of the medicine in the blood.

Research on amantadine is ongoing in Poland. The medical community is divided

While Pfizer is researching the effectiveness of its drug against coronavirus, tests of an existing preparation – amantadine are underway in Poland. This drug has been used for years, incl. in Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis. Polish researchers noticed a link between the use of amantadine and a milder course of the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 in March 2020. Clinical trials, however, began only a year later.

1. This may interest you: Doctors argue over amantadine. And they heal with it when they get sick

The medical community in Poland approaches the subject in an extremely different way. Some medics prescribe amantadine to their patients, and some medical staff are also treated with it. Amantadine is also rapidly disappearing from pharmacies. At the same time, other experts deny the effectiveness of this drug for COVID-19 and even warn that it may be harmful. Such an opinion is shared, for example, by prof. Krzysztof Simon.

– The consequences of this are terrible – said the Lower Silesian provincial consultant for infectious diseases. – What if we breed drug-resistant strains just by administering amantadine? So who will answer for all of this? Of course, then it will be necessary to prevent the study, experts and the government are to blame – he noted.

Prof. Konrad Rejdak, who conducts research on amantadine, commented on these words in an interview with Medonet.

– I have not encountered any scientific research confirming this type of view. Any antiviral drug that works may favor the selection of virus variants resistant to that drug. And the virus mutates spontaneously because that’s the nature of viruses. This is also what happened with the influenza A virus, which mutates every year and not because of amantadine. Similar actions can be expected from the currently used and registered drugs in COVID-19 therapy. You cannot give up looking for cures for diseases for fear that new mutations will emerge. With this assumption, we should stop using antiviral drugs altogether.

Also read:

1. These post-COVID-19 vaccine reactions are the most common. New data from Great Britain
2. How many Poles get vaccinated against COVID-19? [POLL]
3. A new “unexpectedly common” complication after COVID-19. It’s an ATM
4. Coronavirus in retreat? Surprising data about the R indicator
5. Why is it so bad to breathe in a mask? And what can I do to make it easier to breathe?

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