But such early enthusiasm for the compound, made with a poisonous shrub, is not only strange but annoying, three specialists of infectious disease told CNN Monday.
It is only tested in laboratory dishes and it is highly unlikely to end up as a treatment for the infection, they said.
“This is really just nonsense and a distraction,” Drs. Jonathan Reiner, CNN medical analyst and a professor of medicine at George Washington University, at Anderson Cooper, CNN.
“But I can tell you that there are millions of compounds that, when tested in vitro, in a test tube, appear to have antiviral activity, but that are worthless in vivo, in humans.”
The study itself is solid, conducted by a team led by Scott Weaver of the World Reference Center for Emerging Viruses and Arboviruses at the University of Texas Medical Branch. “Oleandrin is recognized as the active ingredient in oleander extracts used in clinical phases I and Phase II of patients with cancer,” she wrote.
“These threads define the pharmacokinetics of oleandrin and demonstrate that extracts containing this molecule can be safely given as an oral medicine to patients without major adverse events. Less appreciated is the strong antiviral activity of this class of compounds.” Their tests of the compound in monkey cells grown in laboratories suggested that it could inactivate the coronavirus.
But the researchers added that animal tests are needed before further discussion on the use of the drug against coronavirus.
Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, agreed. “It should be added to the growing list of compounds that have been tested in laboratory animals. That’s it,” Hotez Cooper said. “The chances that this would actually occur if a proven therapy is still remote,” he added. “Even after testing animals, it could still fall into clinical trials.”
Last week, Lindell was added to the board of Phoenix Biotechnology, which makes oleandrin, and received a financial stake in the company.
Trump said he had “heard about” oleandrin. “Is it something that people talk about very strongly?” he asked a reporter on the White House lawn.
“We’ll see it, we’ll see it, we’ll look at a lot of different things,” he said.
Hotez said he could not understand why the administration would focus on this particular product. “Why this pivot?” he asked. “It’s kind of weird as bizarre the way the president like the White House tends to go for these really weird kinds of miracle cures.”
Dr. William Schaffner, a specialist in infectious disease at Vanderbilt University, has some simple advice for the public. “Do not take it. Stay away. This is quackery,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “Do not take any kind of medicine to prevent or treat this infection that has not been very, very carefully controlled by the scientific community.”
.
