Anti-parasitic drug kills coronavirus grown in cell cultures within 48 hours: Study

Amid coronavirus pandemic, while pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and Moderna, prepare to get EUA for their vaccines, optimistic news about another treatment procedure has been reported from Australia. According to a study published in the journal “Antiviral Research”, an anti-parasitic drug was able to kill the deadly virus grown in cell cultures in less than 48 hours. The drug called “Ivermectin” has shown promising result by killing of COVID in less than two days. 

According to the study, besides removing all viral RNA by 48 hours, Ivermectin was also able to significantly reduce the virus in 24 hours. The drug is approved anti-parasitic and it is known to be effective against a variety of viruses like HIV, influenza, dengue and Zika. However, more testing is still required for it to be undertaken to ascertain its true usefulness in fighting the virus. 

The drug is considered largely to be safe, but the scientists in Monash University in Australia have intended to tiptoe around correct dosage and effects to understand its efficacy. The Australian researchers believe that instead of focusing on new treatments, existing treatments like ivermectin could bring reprieve to people. It is still unclear how the drug kills COVID, but researchers think that the truck dampens down host cells. The researchers are still wary. They have claimed that the use of Ivermectin to combat the virus depends largely on further testing and results. 

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Arthritis drug may reduce COVID deaths 

Meanwhile, another study recently revealed that a type of arthritis drug may reduce the risk of death for elderly patients suffering from coronavirus. According to a study published in the journal Science Advances, the pill has been noted as a possible powerful tool in fighting the unprecedented virus, which could reduce deaths by nearly 71 per cent. The scientists at Imperial College London and the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, said that the patients with moderate or severe forms of coronavirus could find the drug drastically helpful in beating the illness. 

According to the study, the drug called baricitinib, and marketed under the brand name Olumiant, is a relatively new drug for rheumatoid arthritis that has been available for only three years. However, back in February, it was identified as a strong candidate to help treat what was then the new threat of COVID-19. The drug was then picked out by UK-based Benevolent AI, which examined thousands of existing medicines for signs they might combat the deadly virus. Its artificial intelligence programme predicted that the drug would “reduce the ability of the virus to infect lung cells”. 

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