This week I will be discussing about Remdesivir, an antiviral drug, and Mesoblast, a stem cell company, which can potentially treat Covid-19.
Scientists are interested in studying drugs that have been previously used to treat other viral infections. There is hope that this drug will help in treating the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. As many of us already know, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 is similar to the virus that caused MERS and SARS. There have been some laboratory and animal studies done that suggest that Remdesivir can block the virus from reproducing. It targets the RNA dependent RNA polymerase. Further, this drug was used to treat the disease caused by the Ebola Virus. Although the Ebola Virus is not a coronavirus, Remdesivir inhibited its mode of replication. For now, it has been proven to work in animals, but a clinical trial in China is underway.
From a randomized, controlled trial done in February data has been shown that individuals that received Remdesivir recovered faster than the individuals that received the placebo. Specifically, the individuals on Remdesivir had a 31% faster recovery rate compared to the ones that did not receive the drug. Currently, this is becoming a standard of care in the United States. On May 1st, the FDA granted immediate authorization of this drug which is administered intravenously. Although this is not a 100% faster recovery, this is definitely something to look forward to until a vaccine can be made.
On the other hand, Mesoblast is taking a different approach in dealing with Covid-19. This stem-cell company has started a 240-patient clinical trial that would try to see whether cells derived from the bone marrow could help patients deal with the “cytokine storm” within their body. This “cytokine storm” is when the body’s immune system goes into overdrive and can set off an acute respiratory distress syndrome. This company decided to use this treatment on Covid-19 patients because their treatment had shown positive results in children that had a similar deadly immune reaction called acute graft versus host disease. Although it is still very early to tell its efficacy in treating Covid-19, it is the proper way to go about conducting their study. They are conducting a randomized, controlled trial and it is the best to see if their approach works.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01295-8 (Links to an external site.)
https://www.niaid.nih.gov/news-events/nih-clinical-trial-shows-remdesivir-accelerates-recovery-advanced-covid-19 (Links to an external site.)
- By: Aashka Suvarnakar