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Guardian Reveals Report on New Drug Discovery That Will Save Lives in Fight Against Coronavirus
After the vaccine of Pfizer, which arrived today Christmas and in our country another optimistic news in the field of fighting the pandemic coronavirus saw the light of day. British scientists test one new drug that could save lives according to experts, since it prevents someone who has been exposed to the virus from developing Covid-19 infection.
Treatment with antibodies I’ll give immediate immunity against disease and could be administered as emergency treatment to hospitalized patients and caregivers, thus helping to reduce flare-ups. Also, people living in homes where someone is sick with Covid-19 could take the drug to make sure they don’t get infected. According to The Guardian, the treatment could also be given to college students, to whom the virus spreads faster because they live, study and socialize together.
THE Δρ. Catherine Houlihan, virologist in University College London Hospitals NHS Trust (UCLH), who runs a study called Storm Chaser on the drug, said: “If we can show that this treatment works and prevents people who are exposed to the virus from developing Covid-19, it would be exciting to add to the arsenal to fight this terrible virus “.
The drug has been developed by UCLH and AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company that, together with the University of Oxford, created a vaccine that is expected to be approved by the Medicines and Health Regulatory Service in Brittany next week. The team hopes that tests will show that the antibody cocktail protects against Covid-19 for six to 12 months. Test participants take it in two doses, one after the other. If approved, it will be offered to someone who has been exposed to the virus in the past eight days.
According to the publication, if approved by the competent authority and after verifying the study data, the drug could be available in March or April. ULCH cooperates in the tests (University College London Hospitals NHS Trust), many other British hospitals and a network of 100 points around the world. This month, University College Hospital became the first point in the world to attract patients to a randomized controlled trial and administer the drug or a placebo. “To date, we have injected 10 participants (staff, students and others) who were exposed to the virus at home, in a health center or in a student dormitory,” Houlihan said. She and her colleagues will observe participants closely to see which of them will develop Covid-19.
The immediate protection that the drug promises could play a vital role in reducing the effects of the virus until everyone is immune. The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccination program is already underway and is expected to last until next summer. “The advantage of this drug is that it provides immediate antibodies,” Houlihan said. “We could tell test participants who have been exposed: yes, they can get the vaccine. But we wouldn’t tell them it would protect them from the disease, because it’s too late by then.” And that’s because the Pfizer and Oxford does not provide complete immunity for about a month. “
Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia who specializes in infectious diseases, said that The new treatment could significantly reduce the number of deaths from Covid. “If you have outbreaks in settings like care centers or if you have patients who are at particular risk of developing severe Covid disease, like the elderly, then this could save many lives. Once phase 3 trials are confirmed, it could play an important role in keeping people who would otherwise die alive. “So it has to be very important,” he said.
«If you’ve had an outbreak in a care facility, you may want to use these antibody cocktails to get the outbreak under control as soon as possible by giving everyone the medication. – tenants and staff – not vaccinated. “Similarly, if you live with your elderly grandmother and you or someone else in the house becomes infected, then you could give her this to protect her.”
How the new coronavirus drug works
The drug contains a combination of a long-acting antibody known as AZD7442, which has been developed by AstraZeneca. Instead of antibodies made by the body to help fight an infection, AZD7442 uses monoclonal antibodies generated in the laboratory.
In documents from a clinical trial in which AstraZeneca registered in the US, explains that it investigates “the effectiveness of AZD7442 to prevent after exposure to Covid-19 in adults. Peak protein SARS-CoV-2 contains the RBD of the virus [περιοχή δέσμευσης υποδοχέα], which allows the virus to bind to receptors on human cells. By targeting this region of the virus protein, the antibodies can prevent the virus from attaching itself to human cells and are therefore expected to block infection.
In a separate test, called Provent, UCLH is investigating whether the drug could also protect people with lowered immune system, such as those subjected to chemotherapy for cancer, who have recently been exposed to the virus but have not been vaccinated or have not been immunized even if they have been vaccinated due to their underlying disease. Both of them The Provent and Storm Chaser tests are now in phase 3.
Dr. Nicky longley, UCLH’s infectious diseases consultant, who is leading the second study, said: “We will recruit older people or people in long-term care and who have diseases like cancer and HIV that can affect the ability of your immune system to respond to a vaccine. We want to reassure anyone for whom a vaccine may not work we can offer an alternative that is just as protective». Both tests are being carried out at UCLH’s new vaccine research center, which is funded by the NHS research arm, the National Institutes for Health Research and led by Professor Vincenzo Libri.
Dr. Richard Jarvis, co-chair of the Public Medical Committee of the British Medical Association, said: “For the vast majority of the population, Vaccination offers the best protection against Covid-19 and NHS staff work 24 hours a day to make the vaccine available to as many vulnerable patients as possible in this first phase of its availability. “It will definitely be interesting to see if these tests are effective.” However, it is important that new therapies are investigated, tested and, most importantly, safe before considering their introduction. “
