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On Thursday (16), the National Commission for Research Ethics (Conep), an agency of the Ministry of Health, gave the green light for the development of an investigation that addresses the drug nitazoxanide 600 mg as a possible treatment for Covid-19. Popularly known by its trade name Annita, the drug is a widely used vermfuge.
Marcos Pontes, Minister of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications, mentioned the substance on Wednesday (15) and called it a “secret remedy”, which, according to him, is a bet in the search for a cure for the disease.
Conep s positive opinion was published today, but had already been approved on Tuesday (14). The study was requested by the doctor Florentino Cardoso, executive director of Hospital Care, a chain of hospitals belonging to the former Bozano (now Crescera), an investment company that, until 2018, had as a partner Paulo Guedes, the current Minister of Economy .
The drug test will be carried out at Hospital Veracruz, in Campinas, in the interior of So Paulo, with 50 participants for about 21 days, “with seven days of treatment / follow-up and 14 days of clinical follow-up,” Conep reported. The medicine will be provided by the Farmoqumica laboratory in Rio de Janeiro, which manufactures the commercial version Annita.
All participants in the clinical trial are contaminated with the coronavirus, but not in serious condition. Of the 50, half will be treated with nitazoxanide 600 mg and the rest will receive a placebo. The study is expected to be completed only in September.
When Minister Pontes cited the “secret remedy,” it was to announce that the drug had already been tested in vitro by the National Center for Energy and Materials Research, also in Campinas.
The same day, former Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta commented that Pontes discussed the drug with him, but made it clear that in vitro efficacy does not guarantee the fight against the coronavirus in the human body.
For giving false hope about a treatment that has not yet been tested, Bridges is receiving criticism from the scientific community. Initially, the minister claimed he would keep the name of the drug secret to avoid an early rush to pharmacies, but gave so much advice that he ended up revealing the drug.
For now, doctors are asking that no one with Covid-19 self-medicate with Annita.
Via: Uol
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