Some drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could be safely used to treat COVID-19 infections, researchers from the University of Manchester in the UK have found.
They informed about their findings in the pages of “PLOS Pathogens”.
Despite the development of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, effective drugs are needed to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the world’s population is still not vaccinated. Researchers from various centers suggest that some pharmaceuticals already approved for the treatment of completely different diseases could be used for this purpose. Unfortunately, the various antiviral drugs that have been considered so far are rarely effective, safe and readily available at the same time, and the development of new preparations takes far too long.
Now, a team of doctors Adam Pickard and Karl Kadler from the University of Manchester has set out to identify drugs that could effectively treat SARS-CoV-2 infections. To this end, researchers screened FDA-approved drugs using a luminescent-labeled version of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Their effectiveness was determined by monitoring the effectiveness of the virus replicating in infected human cells after exposure to each of the preparations.
Ultimately, nine drugs were identified that were extremely effective in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 proliferation. The authors emphasize, however, that their experiment was confirmed only on cell lines, and not on live patients, so it is still necessary to refrain from drawing conclusions. “Clinical trials are needed to determine if these drugs are appropriate treatments for COVID-19 patients,” they say.
“Our study, however, allowed to identify several preparations that are safe for humans and show high efficiency in reducing SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication in human cells,” the authors of the publication say. “Since these drugs are already FDA approved, have specific dosing and other safety procedures, they could start clinical trials relatively soon.”
Among the measures that seem extremely promising are: ebastine – approved by the FDA for the treatment of pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis jirovecii, and vitamin D3 – an over-the-counter preparation that can be a strong complement to COVID-19 therapy. “Remember, however, that these drugs have not yet been tested in COVID patients and cannot be an alternative to existing treatments or vaccination programs,” concludes Dr. Kadlera. (PAP)
Author: Katarzyna Czechowicz