British pharmacist Synairgen says she has developed a new coronavirus inhaler treatment that helps prevent hospitalized patients from becoming seriously ill.
The company announced the results of a small clinical trial of its drug known as SNG001 on Monday, calling it a “breakthrough” in the fight against error, even though the study has reportedly not been peer-reviewed. nor published in its entirety.
Those who received nebulizer treatment in Synairgen’s trial of 101 COVID-19 patients from nine UK hospitals were 79 percent less likely than those receiving a placebo to become so ill that they would need a ventilator, and by less than twice as likely to recover without limitations to their daily activities, the company said.
They also experienced less “dyspnea,” a major symptom of COVID-19, during the 16-day treatment period and were discharged from hospitals after a median of six days, compared to nine days for the placebo group, according to the results.
“The results confirm our belief that interferon beta … has tremendous potential as an inhaled medication to restore the lung’s immune response, enhance protection, speed recovery, and counteract the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.” Tom Wilkinson, a University of Southampton professor who was the lead investigator of the trial, said in a statement.
Synairgen is now focused on working with regulators and others to “advance this potential COVID-19 treatment as quickly as possible,” said CEO Richard Marsden. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has already approved another coronavirus treatment called remdesivir, the antiviral drug from Gilead Sciences that has been shown to help coronavirus patients recover faster.
Synairgen’s announcement caused its share price to rise more than 400 percent to 192 British pence, or $ 2.43 per share, as of 10:12 am. However, medical experts cautioned that it is difficult to draw conclusions from a small study that has not yet gone through rigorous peer review.
“It would be nice to see the full results once presented and peer-reviewed to make sure they are robust and the conduct of the trial is rigorous,” Naveed Sattar, a professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow, told the BBC. “Also, with small numbers comes less certainty about the true level of benefit, or whether benefits vary between people with different risk characteristics.”
Synairgen’s medication is a form of interferon beta protein, which the body produces to fight infections, which patients inhale through a nebulizer. An injected form of the protein is already used to treat multiple sclerosis.
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