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A common rheumatoid arthritis drug can block the coronavirus and reduce mortality by 71 percent.
Behind the discovery are, among others, Swedish researchers from the Karolinska Institutet.
– I think it’s part of the quick fix, virus researcher Ali Mirazimi tells Aftonbladet.
The drug Baricitinib is currently used for rheumatoid arthritis. It appears to reduce the ability of the coronavirus to spread and enter the cells of the body.
When the coronavirus is blocked, mortality in people with moderate to severe COVID-19 can be reduced by 71 percent, according to an international study. Behind the study is an international team coordinated by researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Solna.
– That we see a 71 percent effect is very, very good, virus researcher Ali Mirazimi from the Karolinska Institutet tells Aftonbladet.
Baricitinib is an anti-inflammatory drug that researchers looked at this spring. They found it when looking for existing drugs that could block both inflammation and infection. Medicines that are already registered have a great advantage. They do not require the same extensive studies and controls as newer drugs and vaccines.
The new study is based on 83 patients with covid pneumonia in Italy and Spain. The patients had a mean age of 81 years. In addition to usual care, they also received Baricitinib. Just over 17 percent of the patients became so ill that they were treated on a ventilator (invasive ventilator treatment) or died. The control group, with the same number of patients, did not receive Baricitinib. There were twice as many, 35 percent, who died or needed care on a respirator.
– Turns out it works. Not 100 percent, but I think it will be difficult for practically all the drugs we develop for covid patients, virus researcher Ali Mirazimi from the Karolinska Institutet tells Aftonbladet.
You must tailor the medications to each patient based on the stage of the disease they are in.
In a later stage of the disease, Baricitinib can be used. But it can also be a combination of different efforts, he explains.
Since the drug already exists, it is up to the Medical Products Agency if they want to approve Baricitinib for covid-19 patients. But before it can be recommended, a larger study is required, according to Ali Mirazimi.
– They were good results. Overall, we are positive and happy, but I don’t think this is the best medicine for covid patients. It is possible to improve even more and that is what we are working on, to develop drugs that are specific for covid, says Ali Mirazimi.
Several existing drugs have emerged, which have been shown to work against covid. Is it part of the solution in the future?
– I think it’s part of the quick fix. We need to think both of a quick solution, because we have patients already in the hospital, and a long-term strategy. There, finding new drugs that are only for covid patients is important and takes longer.
– This disease is very tricky and difficult.
Photo: Maja Suslin / TT / TT NEWS AGENCY
The research is carried out at the Karolinska Institutet in Solna.
Photo: Stefan Hörberg / Rithuset AB / TT NYHETSBYRÅN
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