Beyond Vaccine, Scientists Are Testing A Drug That Could Fully Stop COVID-19

Today, we’ve seen vaccines surfacing and getting approved for use, to prevent people from contracting the novel coronavirus.?

But no specific medicine exists to help a patient who has gotten infected by SARS CoV-2. However, it looks like that’s soon going to change.

Reuters

A team of British researchers are trialing a new drug that uses antibody therapy to help the infected from developing the disease at the same time. The drug is being developed by Dr Catherine Houlihan, a virologist at the University College London Hospitals NHS trust and her team, along with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca -- the same company that has worked with Oxford to bring the adenovirus vaccine to the world.

Reported first by the Guardian, the drug involves an antibody combination dubbed AZD7442 which has been developed by AstraZeneca. These are monoclonal antibodies that have been developed in the lab, as opposed to relying on the body to generate antibodies to fight against infection with a vaccine.?

The team is hopeful that the trial would show the cocktail of antibodies to protect the recipient for eight to twelve months. In the current trials, participants are being offered two doses one after another.?

If everything goes according to plan, this vaccine could soon be offered to someone who has gotten exposed to COVID-19 in the last eight days. Researchers believe that if the trials are successful and regular approves the drug after reviewing trial data, the drug could be out as soon as March or April next year.?

Houlihan explains how this immediate protection is different from a vaccine for someone who has gotten exposed to the novel coronavirus, in a statement to the Guardian, “The advantage of this medicine is that it gives you immediate antibodies. We could say to trial participants who have been exposed: yes, you can have the vaccine. But we wouldn’t be telling them that would protect them from the disease because it’s too late by then [because the Pfizer and Oxford vaccines do not confer full immunity for around a month].”

Representational Images: Reuters

Houlihan further stated, “If we can prove that this treatment works and prevent people who are exposed to the virus going on to develop COVID-19, it would be an exciting addition to the arsenal of weapons being developed to fight this dreadful virus.”