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An experimental cancer drug can stop the coronavirus on its way by blocking the copy of the virus and spreading in the body in the same way that it freezes tumor growth, researchers say.
- The University of Louisville developed a piece of synthetic DNA called an ‘aptamer’ that binds to a protein called nucleolin that is found on the surface of cells.
- It has been used in cancer patients to prevent the disease from ” hijacking ” nucleolin and replicating
- The researchers say it could be used to prevent the new coronavirus from spreading throughout the body.
- The team is currently seeking fast FDA approval to begin human clinical trials.
- Here we show you how to help people affected by Covid-19
The researchers say that an experimental cancer drug can prevent people from becoming infected with the new coronavirus.
The drug is a piece of synthetic DNA called an ‘aptamer’ that binds to a protein called nucleolin that is found on the surface of cells.
Previous studies have shown that the aptamer prevents various cancers from “hijacking” nucleolin, replicating the disease, and infecting other cells.
The team at the University of Louisville in Kentucky says the technology could be used to prevent the virus from replicating and spreading throughout the body.
University of Louisville researchers say it has a treatment that could prevent the new coronavirus (pictured) from spreading throughout the body
A piece of synthetic DNA called an ‘aptamer’ binds to a protein called nucleolin that is found on the surface of cells and has been used in cancer patients to prevent the disease by ‘hijacking’ nucleolin and replicating itself ( Archive image from UW Medicine, April 17)
The aptamer was discovered by a team led by Dr. Paula Bates, a professor of medicine at the University of Louisville.
“Like many scientists, as soon as I heard about the new coronavirus, I wanted to help and started thinking about how my area of research might intersect with coronavirus research efforts,” it said in a statement.
Bates plans to work at the University of Louisville Regional Biocontainment Laboratory, one of 12 regional and two national biocontainment laboratories in the United States.
The laboratory contains Biosafety Level 3 facilities that protect researchers from exposure to the pathogens they are examining.
Bates said he has been testing the drug on cells, but hopes to begin human clinical trials soon.
“It usually takes many, many years to develop a drug from scratch and you would have to do a lot of animal testing to try to show that it is safe,” he told WSMV.
‘Then it is tested for safety in humans, and then it is tested to see if it works in humans. And then the whole process takes years.
“Because this has already been tested in humans, in cancer patients, and we would plan to use and dose it in a very similar way for patients who have COVID-19, we hope to be able to cut a long time there,” she said.
She says she hopes her team receives approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration quickly to begin trials.
Because a vaccine can take 12 to 18 months before hitting the market, he says the treatments could help slow the spread.
“They could come early to prevent the virus from spreading in their bodies and that would prevent them from becoming seriously ill from this, but also for people who have already become seriously ill,” Bates said.
“There is some evidence to believe that if you can reduce the amount of virus in the body, further reduce the spread, it could benefit you.”
In the United States, there are more than 856,000 confirmed cases of the virus and more than 48,000 deaths.
