The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), which emerged in Wuhan, a city of 11 million in Hubei province, has spread to more than two dozen countries, taking the lives of more than 2,800 people.
As per the WHO, "Harnessing the power of science is critical for bringing this outbreak under control." Ever since the outbreak, research teams and pharma companies are striving to develop treatments and vaccines to fight the deadly virus.
Looking at the criticality of the situation, and the rapid phase at which the virus is spreading, quick access to the right treatment is the need of the hour. To cut down the development timeframe, many companies are repurposing existing drugs as they have established pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic data.
Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical's Favilavir (Favipiravir)
Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical's Favilavir (Favipiravir), an antiviral drug, has secured approval from the National Medical Products Administration of China as an investigational therapy for coronavirus. As per China's Ministry of Science and Technology, Favilavir has demonstrated encouraging results in early clinical trials against the COVID-19.
Apart from Favilavir, the anti-malaria drug chloroquine and Gilead's investigational drug remdesivir are the next rays of hopes against the deadly virus.
Anti-malaria drug Chloroquine
Chloroquine, a well-known anti-malarial medicine, has shown apparent efficacy and acceptable safety against COVID-19 associated pneumonia in multicenter clinical trials in China. In addition to its antiviral activity, chloroquine has immune-modulating properties, which may synergistically enhance its antiviral effect.
Chloroquine is recommended to be included in the next version of the “Guidelines for the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Pneumonia Caused by COVID-19” issued by the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China for treatment of COVID-19 infection in larger populations in the future.
Remdesivir by Gilead Sciences - Trials are being performed in multiple hospitals in Wuhan
Remdesivir developed by Gilead Sciences was originally being developed to treat Ebola. The drug is not licensed or approved anywhere in the world.
A study by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that remdesivir prevents Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in monkeys. These results supported testing remdesivir against the COVID-19. The drug is being advanced into human clinical trials for coronavirus treatment in China.
As per a report by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), remdesivir was administered to the first coronavirus patient in the United States after his condition worsened, and he developed pneumonia. Remdesivir appeared to have improved the patient's clinical condition, and this, in turn, has encouraged further clinical studies of this medication.
Remdesivir is being tested on 761 patients in a phase III randomized trial in partnership with China. The trials are being performed in multiple hospitals in Wuhan.
Remdesivir has intellectual property barriers in the country; as per the Wuhan Institute of Virology, remdesivir would enter major countries around the world through the Patent Cooperation Agreement (PCT) approach. The Wuhan Institute of Virology has filed an application seeking a new patent on remdesivir in January 2020.
AbbVie's HIV drug Kaletra
Health authorities in China are using AbbVie's HIV drug Kaletra, a combination of lopinavir and ritonavir, for the treatment of infected patients. Kaletra has previously been investigated in patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which belongs to the same family of virus as COVID-19.
Kaletra works by blocking a protease that is indispensable for the COVID-19 to reproduce in the human body. Though Kaletra was designed to block a different protease, reports suggest it may be efficient to delay disease progression and treat the symptoms associated with th...
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