Researchers have found new COVID-19 treatments and therapies that could better protect against future variants and outbreaks
A group of researchers spanning the University of Kent in Canterbury and the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main have identified new COVID-19 treatments and therapies that have the potential to save lives.
The international team is led by Professor Martin Michaelis, Professor Mark Wass (both School of Biosciences, University of Kent), and Professor Jindrich Cinatl (Institute of Medical Virology, Goethe-University).
Testing sensitivity of COVID-19 strands to antiviral drugs
The experts tested the sensitivity of different SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and Delta viruses to combinations of the four currently approved antiviral drugs with Betaferon, an additional class of antiviral drug that the body naturally produces to protect against viral infections.
Although recent COVID waves have caused fewer hospitalisations and deaths when compared to the early months of the pandemic, this is largely due to the immunity provided by vaccines.
The grim reality is that many individuals cannot effectively protect themselves from COVID
The grim reality is that many individuals cannot effectively protect themselves from COVID-19. This is because a lot of people have defects in their immune systems which puts them at risk of COVID-19.
They cannot rely upon vaccinations and instead have to put their faith in effective antiviral therapies.
Furthermore, there is a threat of resistance formation for antiviral drugs, which makes finding new, effective COVID treatments crucial.
By finding new combination therapies that are highly effective in cell culture experiments, the team is hoping that they can reduce the formation of novel variants.
There are currently three approved antiviral drugs
“These are exciting findings that will hopefully help to improve the treatment of vulnerable COVID-19 patients and to avoid the formation of resistant viruses as much as possible,” commented Professor Martin Michaelis from the University of Kent.
Currently, there are three antiviral drugs approved for COVID treatment:
- Remdesivir
- Molnupiravir
- Nirmatrelvir (the active agent in paxlovid)
Aprotinin is also an approved drug, whose anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity was discovered by the same research team. There are signs that it is beneficial to COVID-19 patients.
What new drug combination protects against COVID-19?
The research team found that Interferon combination with Molnupiravir, Nirmatrelvir, and aprotinin was much more effective than Interferon combinations with Remdesivir.
This may shed light on why Remdesivir/Interferon combinations have so far shown limited improvement compared to Remdesivir alone.
However, the study warned that Interferon combinations with the other three drugs should be tested in clinics.
I hope that more effective therapies will help us to reduce the formation of novel dangerous COVID-19 variants
Professor Jindrich Cinatl (Goethe-University and Dr Petra Joh Research Institute) added:”If these findings are confirmed in patients, I hope that more effective therapies will help us to reduce the formation of novel dangerous COVID-19 variants.”
