In a new study, researchers found that several drugs already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could potentially be used to alleviate the symptoms of COVID-19.
Their finding highlights three promising types of drugs currently being tested on patients with COVID-19: fostamatinib, baricitinib and corticosteroids.
The first two have the potential to prevent excessive inflammation in the lungs in people infected with the coronavirus.
The research was conducted by a team at Université de Montréal.
Fostamatinib is used to treat chronic immune thrombocytopenia; it reduces the destruction of platelets by the immune system.
Baricitinib is a molecule used to treat the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
Corticosteroids (dexamethasone and betamethasone) are broad-spectrum anti-inflammatory drugs.
Another drug, colchicine, could also help reduce the symptoms of COVID-19, according to the analysis.
Usually prescribed to treat gout (gouty arthritis), colchicine is the subject of the ColCorona clinical trial in Quebec.
To get at these results, the team analyzed public databases dealing with inflammation caused by COVID-19, coronavirus-infected lung cells and the response that existing drugs could produce.
This led to a list of just over 50 drugs the researchers think could be used quickly, especially since most are already in clinical trials against the coronavirus.
One controversial drug, chloroquine, is not included in the list drawn up based on the researchers’ analysis, because it has no real effect on the disease.
In addition to looking at drugs to ease the symptoms of COVID-19, the team is continuing their research to find a vaccine that can immunize humans against SARS-CoV-2.
They are particularly interested in two types of vaccines: a cellular vaccine and a vaccine using a novel protein-based antigen formulation.
To create a cellular vaccine, researchers use the virus’s proteins so that they get broken down and come to the surface of the smart cells to activate the T-cells of the immune system.
For the second type of vaccine, the team is using a new antigen-modifying formula to optimize its expression on the surface of antigen-presenting cells—a technology owned by a Canadian biotech company—again with the goal of stimulating the immune system.
One author of the study is doctoral student Nehme El-Hachem.
The study is published in iScience.
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