An article by Praveen Duddu summarizes the series of clinical trials going on world wide. Everyone has their fingers crossed, hoping one of these pharmaceutical companies will stumble across the perfect mix and will be able to stop this pandemic. So far, there has been a combination of efforts, some trying to repurpose and combine preexisting drugs, and some starting from scratch.
Favilavir was the first approved coronavirus drug in China. This drug is an antiviral that has proved effectiveness in treating Covid-19 when administered to 70 patients in a clinical trial. In the United States, emergency use of Chloroquine, a drug typically used to treat malaria and arthritis, has been approved but is still being tested in several different clinical trials. Another approach being taken involves using Fusogenix drugs, a “drug delivery platform [that uses] a proteo-lipid vehicle that introduces genetic payload directly into the cells”. They are using this vehicle to transfer epitopes from the SARS virus that is hopefully similar enough to illicit an immune response that will provide protection against Covid-19.
There are several other promising avenues of treatment that can be utilized from veteran SARS-CoV-2 labs because of their similarity to the novel coronavirus. Ralph Baric, a UNC professor, has studied RNA viruses for over 35 years. His team were some of the first to respond with a plausible solution to this pandemic. They have done extensive research and offer remdesivir—Gilead’s drug as a potential prevention and treatment against Covid-19. This pitch is still “leading the pack” compared to other SARS-CoV-2 treatment options. This drug is currently being tested in several clinical trials. I am very proud of the work that this University is doing and I must add, even admits a pandemic… #GDTBATH (it is a great day to be a tarheel)!
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