Published 07:27 IST, July 4th 2020
WHO expects results from COVID-19 drug trials in 2 weeks, says Dr Tedros Adhanom
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that results from clinical trials of drugs that might be effective in treating COVID-19 patients can be expected soon.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on June 3 said that results from clinical trials it is conducting of drugs that might be effective in treating COVID-19 patients can be expected soon. According to reports, the WHO was conducting clinical trials for drugs that will be effective in treating COVID-19 and has recruited over 5,000 patients spanning over 39 countries.
WHO close to concrete results
As per reports, the Director-General has claimed that preliminary results can be expected in the next two weeks. Reportedly, the Solidarity Trial started out in five parts looking at possible treatment approaches to COVID-19: the first is standard care of the infected patient, the second is a drug called remdesivir, the third involves testing the viability of hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug which was championed by US President Donald Trump. the fourth is the testing of the HIV drug lopinavir/ritonavir and the last stage involves combining lopinavir/ritonavir with interferon.
According to reports, the WHO has stopped testing hydroxychloroquine after it was proven that the anti-malaria drug has no benefit for those who have the disease, but further study is still needed when it comes to determining whether the drug has benefits as a form of preventive medication.
Head of the WHO’s emergencies programme, Mike Ryan, had said that it would be unwise to predict when a vaccine for the deadly coronavirus could be ready. He added that even if a promising vaccine candidate was discovered, the question was how soon it could be mass-produced.
While there is no vaccine for COVID-19 at the moment, 18 potential vaccines are being tested on humans by different companies worldwide.
Blood of horse shoe crab a possible cure
As per reports, Swiss multinational, chemicals, and biotechnology company Lonza, will manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine with horseshoe crab blood this month. Horseshoe crab blood is used by several pharmaceuticals because it contains a natural source of Limulus amebocyte lysate, a substance that helps to detect the presence of a contaminant called endotoxin. This contaminant is capable of making its way into vaccines, injectable drugs, or other sterile pharmaceuticals such as artificial knees and hips. The presence of endotoxins in drugs can severely damage human health. Hence it is necessary to use horseshoe crab blood to detect its presence.
(Image Credit AP)
Updated 07:27 IST, July 4th 2020