The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) roared as the world reopened after spending months in lockdown. This underscored the urgent need for treatment and vaccines.
Billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has said that normalcy will come only when the second generation of the Covid-19 vaccine is released. The World Health Organization (WHO), meanwhile, believes that a Covid-19 vaccine will be ready for registration in late 2020 or early next year at the earliest.
The virus that was first detected in China late last year has reached almost every corner of the world. As of October 12, 37.7 million had been infected by Covid-19.
The race to develop a vaccine is advancing at an unprecedented rate, with more than 150 candidates in development and some two dozen candidates already being tested in people, according to the Reuters news agency. However, there is no information yet on the availability of a vaccine.
These are some of the drugs, therapies and vaccines in development to combat Covid-19:
Remdesivir: The infusion-administered antiviral drug has previously failed as an Ebola treatment, but it showed promise against certain coronaviruses in animal studies. In a randomized trial, remdesivir led to a significant reduction in recovery time for hospitalized patients compared to placebo, showing that it does affect Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. More than a dozen trials are underway in China, Europe and the United States with positive results beginning to emerge.
Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ): HCQ is widely used to treat malaria, but it has now been found to have anti-viral and anti-inflammatory activity. During the trials, the HCQ successfully blocked the entry of the new coronavirus into cells. Later studies have found little benefit in patients treated with the drug. Health experts warn that HCQ should never be used without a prescription and could cause dangerous side effects. Dozens of clinical trials are underway to evaluate the drug’s benefits for Covid-19 patients, but several major trials were halted following a safety warning from the World Health Organization (WHO) in May.
Aspirin, Clopidogrel (Plavix), Rivaroxaban (Xarelto), Atorvastatin (Lipitor), Omeprazole (Prilosec): These have been tested in the UK. The drugs try to mitigate the effect of Covid-19 on the heart muscles. These cardioprotective drugs will be tested in 3,000 patients in the UK, with a completion date of March 30, 2021.
BCG vaccine against tuberculosis: The Bacillus Calmette-Guerin tuberculosis vaccine induces a broad innate immune system response, which has been shown to protect against serious infection or illness with other respiratory pathogens. Large trials of the drug were conducted in Australia and the Netherlands to understand its effectiveness in fighting the virus that causes Covid-19. In a small trial in the United Arab Emirates, none of the 71 hospital employees who received a BCG booster shot in early March had been infected with the virus by the end of June, compared to 18 out of 201 employees who did not receive the vaccine and tested positive for Covid -19.
Convalescent plasma: This is a method that health experts are considering to treat Covid-19. Blood plasma from recovered Covid-19 patients is transfused into patients who are currently ill, in the hope that the newly made antibodies will help fight the virus. The method has been used for more than 100 years and carries little risk of harm or side effects. In Delhi, the government led by Arvind Kejriwal has opened plasma donation centers. Kejriwal has also urged the people of Delhi to come out in large numbers to donate the plasma which can then be used to treat Covid-19 patients.
NKG2D-ACE2 CAR-NK cells: Non-drug therapy pairs the NKG2D receptor for natural killer (NK) cells of the immune system that play an important role in attacking foreign invaders such as cancer or viruses, with the ACE-2 receptor that the coronavirus uses to enter human cells. The therapy is being tested by the Chinese company Chongqing Sidemu Biotechnology Technology Co Ltd. More than 90 patients are undergoing tests to see if this cell therapy can prevent the Sars-CoV-2 virus from entering cells and multiplying.
(With input from Reuters)
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