StemCell Therapy

There is also hope that influenza antivirals such as favipiravir and molnupiravir could be repurposed in the fight against coronavirus, with small trials showing they improve lung function. Large trials are under way, with results expected in the spring.

One clever antiviral treatment in the pipeline is called Recombinant ACE-2. To infect the body, coronavirus uses grippy rods called spike proteins to latch on to the human ACE-2 protein on the outside of cells. In laboratory studies, scientists have shown they can deploy artificial ACE-2 proteins as decoys, thereby luring the virus away from real cells. However, it has yet to be proven in animals or humans.

Drugs that boost the immune system also look promising. Scientists are currently testing whether the blood plasma of recovered patients could improve survival rates. Using the blood of patientsurvivors of an illness dates back to the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, before vaccines or antivirals were available. It relies on the fact that the blood of recovered patients contains powerful antibodies already trained to fight the virus.

Last week, a large trial by Oxford showedthat blood plasma does not prevent death in seriously ill patients, but the team is still awaiting a full breakdown of results to see if it benefited certain sub-groups. International trials are also currently testing whether plasma works if used earlier.

Similar to blood plasma, synthetic antibodies are also giving hope. Scientists look for people who have mounted a strong response to coronavirus then artificially replicate their immune proteins.

Eli Lilly's monoclonal antibody bamlanivimab has been shown to reduce people's risk of being hospitalised by 72 per cent compared to a placebo. It is currently under review by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Likewise, Regeneron's antibody cocktail reduced visits to hospital by 57 per cent.

Giving monoclonal antibodies as a prophylactic also appears to be beneficial, with bamlanivimab found to reduce the risk of developing coronavirus by 80 per cent for care home residents and staff.

Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), said: "They are the first anti-viral drugs that demonstrably work in the first phase of the disease just after the virus has infected someone but before it has had time to cause a lot of damage."

Another way of boosting immunity is to give patients synthetic interferons. When the body is under attack, it produces molecules called interferons which boost the immune system while also keeping it in check.

Last summer, the British pharma company Synarigen published results showing its inhaled form of interferon "SNG001" lowered the risk of severe Covid-19 in infected patients. Larger studies are ongoing.

For many seriously ill coronavirus patients, the immune system does not need any help, but requires dampening down.The steroid dexamethasone has been shown to cut deaths of severely ill patients by one-third and is now given to severely ill NHS patients as standard.

The rest is here:
The drug treatments offering the best hope of a way out of the Covid crisis - Telegraph.co.uk

This entry was posted on February 14, 2021 at 7:05 pm and is filed under Death by Stem Cells. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |