A single injection of a new antiviral treatment against covid-19, in clinical trials, reduced the risk of hospitalization by half, according to a study published on Wednesday.
Even after the disease has left the front pages of newspapers, the development of new treatment options remains crucial, especially against new variants, pointed out Jeffrey Glenn, professor of immunology at Stanford University and co-author of the study, published in the journal “NEJM”.
About 500 people still die daily from the disease in the United States. The treatment uses interferons, key proteins in the immune response released in the presence of a virus and which adhere to receptors on certain cells, triggering “an innate antiviral defense mechanism” (different from antibodies), explained Glenn.
There are several classes of interferons, among them the so-called lambdas. The particularity of them is that they adhere mainly to the cells of the lungs, precisely where covid causes damage.
The treatment consists of an injection of a synthetic version of lambda interferons within seven days of the appearance of the first symptoms of covid, which was tested in a clinical trial with more than 1,900 adults who had the disease, between June 2021 and February 2021. 2022, in Brazil and Canada, with 85% of patients already vaccinated.
Among the 931 people who received the treatment, 25 were hospitalized, versus 57 of the 1,018 patients who received a placebo, which represents a difference of 51%, according to the study. The results are even better when unvaccinated patients are isolated.
“It’s spectacular,” said Glenn, founder of the company Eiger Biopharmaceuticals, which developed the treatment and in which he is a shareholder.
The single-injection treatment offers a practical advantage over Pfizer’s antiviral Paxlovid, which requires dozens of pills to be taken over five days, he argued.
Certain treatments, such as monoclonal antibodies, as well as vaccines, gradually lost their effectiveness against the new variants. But, thanks to the fact that interferons interact with cells, the treatment will not be affected by the evolution of the virus.
According to Eiger Biopharmaceuticals, which had previously released these results to the press, the US drug regulatory agency (FDA) did not respond to an emergency authorization request. But Glenn is optimistic: “I’m hopeful that this study will help motivate regulators here and around the world to find a way to get the treatment to patients sooner.”
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