[ad_1]
Brazilian scientists will test a drug on 500 patients, almost no side effects, with 94% efficiency in cells infected with the new coronavirus, with a maximum result of one month. The information was published on Wednesday (4/15) by the Minister of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications, Marcos Pontes.
According to him, the country also develops artificial intelligence teams to evaluate people with suspected Covid-19. The response in one minute and the test uses national reagents. “Vaccines take longer than repositioning drugs, but we are working on a dual vaccine for influenza and Covid,” he said. “Only science can fight the virus,” said Pontes.
The minister did not reveal the name of the remedy for “there will be no rush” for the purchases. This is because it is a well-known medicine, widely available in the market, according to Marcelo Morales, secretary of Training Policies and Strategic Actions of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC). “We will have in our hands, developed in Brazil, at most, in mid-May, the solution of a treatment, with medicines available even in pediatric formulation,” said Pontes.
The remedy will be tested on 500 patients in seven hospitals, five in Rio de janeiro, one in so paulo and the other in braslia. The medication will be administered daily for five days, with an additional nine days of observation. “In 14 days, we will be able to see if the effects on the patients will be the same as those already proven on the infected cells,” the minister said. The clinical trial will be conducted with hospitalized patients to control symptoms and viral load.
According to the MCTIC, the protocol will be a random administration, that is, neither the doctors nor the patients will know who is taking the drug and who is receiving placebos. “I want to thank the ethics committee of the Ministry of Health, which approved the protocol for clinical tests. In the coming weeks, we will have the results, ”said Pontes.
See details
According to the MCTIC, the tests were carried out using drugs that are already commercialized in pharmacies to verify if there is one capable of fighting the disease. The strategy called drug repositioning is adopted by a working group made up of 40 scientists from the National Bioscience Laboratory (LNBio), which is part of the National Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), the ministry’s social organization.
Two thousand drugs have been tested to identify drugs made up of molecules capable of inhibiting proteins that are essential for viral replication. Using high technology such as molecular and structural biology, scientific computing, chemoinformatics, and artificial intelligence, the researchers identified six promising molecules that were tested in vitro with cells infected with SARS-CoV-2.
Of these six investigated remedies, CNPEM / MCTIC scientists found that two significantly reduced viral replication in cells. The most promising remedy was 94% effective in tests with infected cells.
On Tuesday (4/14), the clinical trial funded by the MCTIC obtained authorization from the National Research Ethics Commission (Conep) to carry out the last stage of testing: clinical trials in patients infected with the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which should start in the coming weeks.
