Scientists believe they have found an inhaler (pictured) that prevents the coronavirus from progressing in the lungs
A mass trial of a reused drug for multiple sclerosis that researchers hope will greatly reduce the chances of coronavirus patients becoming seriously ill began at a hospital in Hull.
The first patient to test a drug known as SNG001 received treatment at Hull Royal Infirmary on Tuesday.
Previous tests have produced promising results, with only 13% of patients receiving intensive treatment, compared with 22% who received placebo.
Patients treated with the drug were also twice as likely to recover after two weeks as those who did not, according to the University of Southampton research.
SNG001 uses a natural protein called interferon beta that the body produces when fighting viral infections.
Beta interferon is a treatment for multiple sclerosis and is usually administered by injection. But SNG001 is inhaled into the lungs using a nebulizer to trigger a stronger, more targeted antiviral response.
Kaye Flitney was one of 98 people entered in last year’s clinical trial led by the University of Southampton
Scientists believe that Covid-19 blocks the immune system’s ability to produce the protein in high doses, with the new treatment giving the lungs an essential “boost”.
The drug was developed by staff at the University Hospital of Southampton and is being produced by biotechnology company Synairgen.
The treatment of a patient can cost around £ 2,000, which is seen as relatively cheap compared to the alternatives.
At Hull Royal Infirmary, Alexandra Constantin, 34, was the first person to receive treatment as part of this new trial, after she was admitted to the hospital with coronavirus on Monday, the BBC reported.
The latest treatment study was published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine in November and looked at 98 hospital patients with the virus between March and May, at the height of the epidemic in Britain.
They were divided in half, with one group receiving the new treatment and the other group receiving a placebo.
The study was conducted on a double-blind basis, meaning that neither the researchers nor the 98 patients knew who was receiving SNG001.
In the placebo group, 11 (22 percent) of the 50 patients were either transferred to the ICU or required mechanical ventilation after two weeks. Three eventually died.
Of those who received SNG001, only six (13 percent) of the 48 patients developed severe illness and there were no deaths.
Patients taking the drug were also twice as likely to regain full health at the end of the two-week period.
A total of 21 (44 percent) in the SNG001 group recovered in that period, compared with 11 (22 percent) patients in the placebo group.
The lead author, Professor Tom Wilkinson, professor of respiratory medicine at the University of Southampton, said: ‘The results confirm our belief that interferon beta, a drug widely known and approved for use in its injectable form for other indications, may have the potential as an inhaled drug to restore the lung’s immune response and accelerate the recovery of Covid-19.
‘Inhaled beta-1a interferon provides high local concentrations of the immune protein, which increases lung defenses instead of targeting specific viral mechanisms.
“This may have additional advantages of treating Covid-19 infection when it occurs in conjunction with infection with another respiratory virus, such as influenza or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which can very well be found in the winter months.”
The authors admitted that, although promising, their study had several limitations – most notably its small sample size.
There were also differences between the two groups in recruitment – patients in the SNG001 group had more severe illness at the start of the study and more patients had high blood pressure.
In the placebo group, on the other hand, there was a greater number of patients with diabetes and heart disease.
Diabetes and heart disease are two conditions that can make Covid-19 more deadly, which may have distorted the study’s results.
Dr. Nathan Peiffer-Smadja, an expert in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Imperial College Londo, said that larger studies should be able to address these limitations.
Reacting to the study, he said: ‘The number of patients enrolled in this pilot clinical trial is obviously small.
“Furthermore, this study did not show any impact of the treatment evaluated on the time of discharge or on mortality, although the study obviously had no power to answer the last question.
‘Larger randomized controlled trials are therefore needed to confirm these results.’
He also added that the safety of inhaling interferon beta-1a using a nebulizer ‘will be of special interest, since the interferon nebulization has not yet been given marketing authorization for any indication’.