US-based drug company says COVID-19 treatment could be ready for use by September

A US-based drug company Eli Lilly and Co have said that a medicine specifically designed to treat the deadly COVID-19 disease will be authorised for use for as early as September 2020. In an exclusive interview with Reuters, the company’s chief scientist said on June 10 that if everything proceeds as planned with the two antibody therapies already in their testing, COVID-19 drug will be on its way. Just recently, Eli Lilly and Co had announced starting of the Phase 1 study for their second potential antibody treatment designed to combat the disease caused by the novel coronavirus which has till now infected over 7.3 million people in the world. 

Company’s Chief Scientific Officer Daniel Skovronsky reportedly said in the same interview that Eli Lilly And Co has even started preclinical studies for a third antibody treatment to COVID-19 with the previous two experimental therapies already subjected to human trials. The company has developed monoclonal antibody drug to combat COVID-19 which has widely been used in the treatment of other diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis. This type of biotech medicine is more likely to be beneficial against the novel coronavirus as compared to repurposed drugs that are also being tested. Earlier in May, the US-based company had revealed that it had started testing for two different antibody treatments with one being developed in partnership with Canadian biotech AbCellera and the second one being developed with Chinese drugmaker Shanghai Junshi Biosciences.

Read - Foreigner Held With Drugs Worth Rs 50 Lakh In Delhi

Read - COVID-19: Centre May Soon Allow Import Of Treatment Drugs Under Trial In Other Countries

Triple-drug combination against COVID-19

As countries across the world are ramping up their research to find a definite cure and vaccine to coronavirus disease, a new study has found out that a combination of three antiviral drugs along with an immunity booster quickly treats the patients of COVID-19 infection. Even though researchers claim that the approach requires more testing but it can be a potential treatment for coronavirus patients. Dr Kwok-Yung at Hong Kong University and colleagues reportedly tested the combination of HIV drug, remdesvir with ritonavir and lopanivir, the general antiviral drug ribavirin and a multiple sclerosis drug beta interferon.

The findings of the new study came when the only authorized treatment for coronavirus disease remains the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir. Countries including the United States and Japan have already approved the emergency use of the drug over the patients who show severe symptoms of COVID-19 infection. However, the global infections of the novel virus have surpassed four million but the supply of HIV drug is limited.

Read - Health Ministry Drafts Rules To Help COVID-19 Patients Access New Drugs

Read - Health Ministry Relaxes Norms For Import Of Unapproved Drugs For 'compassionate Use'

(Image Source: Representative/Unsplash)

(With agency inputs)