LONDON: Researchers at Oxford University plan to test a drug that has shown signs of reducing deaths from COVID-19 in developing countries.
The Principle trial aims to find a drug that works soon after the onset of virus symptoms in a patient and that is more effective during the primary stages of the disease, the Times reported.
The study is evaluating ivermectin, a drug used in cattle and people infected with parasitic worms, which has been hailed by some as a “miracle drug” with the potential to save thousands of lives, the report added.
Other scientists said the drug had not been properly evaluated and the full extent of its effectiveness was not yet known.
“It has potential antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties, and there have been some smaller studies conducted in low and middle income countries, showing that it speeds recovery, reduces inflammation and reduces hospitalization,” said Chris Butler, professor of primary care at Oxford and co- head of the Principle judgment. “But there is a gap in the data. There was no really rigorous judgment. “
The drug works by blocking a protein from entering a cell’s nucleus, limiting the virus’s ability to replicate, and initial World Health Organization analyzes showed promising signs.
“It can save thousands of lives a day,” said Paul Marik of Eastern Virginia Medical School. “The data is compelling: in Mexico, India and South America, mortality has fallen.”
Peter Horby, the professor at the University of Oxford who helped set up the UK’s largest COVID-19 trials, said this month that the latest data was “interesting, perhaps encouraging, but not yet convincing”.
Most advances in the treatment of coronavirus have so far worked in patients who are already suffering in the later stages of the disease, but Butler and his team hope to find a drug that can prevent the virus from spreading to its host.
The trial is looking for people aged 65 and over, or people over 50 with underlying health problems, through general practitioners, online and through the UK’s NHS testing and tracking system, said The Times.