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As the World Health Organization (WHO) baldly reminds us, 鈥渢here are no specific vaccines or treatments for COVID-19鈥�. However, trials of treatments are taking place. Some have shown promise in听helping those infected by听calming an overreacting immune听system or targeting the coronavirus听鈥� either by destroying it or stopping it from replicating.
Dexamethasone, a widely available steroid that dampens the immune response, became the first medicine shown to reduce deaths in covid-19 patients. The RECOVERY trial of听more than 2000 people in听people on mechanical ventilators by a third听鈥� and by a听fifth in those who received oxygen but not ventilation.
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鈥淭he trial showed it is beneficial to those who are severely affected,鈥� says Sheuli Porkess at the Association of听the听British Pharmaceutical Industry. It is now being used by听the National Health Service in听the UK to treat covid-19.
In June, the US bought up virtually all global stocks of the听drug remdesivir, an antiviral that suggested promise against Ebola. The move came after one听trial found that it reduced recovery time by four days in covid-19 patients.
However, other studies have yielded mixed results: one in April , while an analysis last month by Gilead, the company behind the drug, indicated a . Gilead cautions that more rigorous trials are needed. The drug has received emergency or conditional approval in a听number of countries. The litmus听test will come in a few weeks with the results of the international .
Trials are also looking at whether the , which is already used to treat arthritis, could be beneficial against covid-19.
Another recent development relates to an inhaler-based treatment that delivers a protein called interferon beta to the lungs. A showed that it reduced the risk of听patients going on to develop severe covid-19 by 79 per cent, compared with a placebo group. However, this was a small, early trial of the drug, called SNG001, developed by UK firm Synairgen.
The blood plasma of covid-19 survivors offers another possible treatment because it contains antibodies to the coronavirus. An听 formed in May to pool research on its use听as a therapy for the disease. There are no trial results so far.
New drugs might still emerge. Last week, an analysis of thousands of known drugs that have been approved or are under clinical investigation that inhibited the coronavirus鈥檚 replication in cultured cells.
As well as trying to use existing drugs to tackle covid-19, some pharmaceutical companies are exploring entirely new ones.
In addition, researchers have听started to rule out certain听drugs. For听example, hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir-ritonavir haven鈥檛 been shown to provide any benefit, at听least in hospital settings.
For now, the focus remains on听treating the most severe, short-term problems caused by听the illness. But with growing evidence pointing to听longer term symptoms, treatments will be needed to tackle those too.
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