In a new study, researchers found that an anti-parasitic drug already available around the world kills the coronavirus within 48 hours.
They showed that the drug, Ivermectin, stopped the SARS-CoV-2 virus growing in cell culture within 48 hours.
They found that even a single dose could essentially remove all viral RNA by 48 hours and that even at 24 hours there was a really big reduction in it.
The research was led by Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.
Ivermectin is an FDA-approved anti-parasitic drug that has also been shown to be effective in vitro against a broad range of viruses including HIV, Dengue, Influenza and Zika virus.
It is very widely used and seen as a safe drug.
Although the mechanism by which Ivermectin works on the virus is not known, it is likely, based on its action in other viruses, that it works to stop the virus ‘dampening down’ the host cells’ ability to clear it
The team cautioned that the tests conducted in the study were in vitro and that trials needed to be carried out in people.
They need to figure out now whether the dosage you can use it at in humans will be effective.
The team made a previous breakthrough finding on Ivermectin in 2012 when they identified the drug and its antiviral activity. The team has been researching Ivermectin for more than 10 years with different viruses.
The team says the use of Ivermectin to combat COVID-19 would depend on the results of further pre-clinical testing and ultimately clinical trials, with funding urgently required to keep progressing the work.
The leader of the study is Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute’s Dr. Kylie Wagstaff.
The study is published in Antiviral Research.
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