Can Brazil Scientists Stop COVID-19 With AIDS Drug

Story By: Alex Cope, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash

Scientists say they have successfully used an AIDS drug on COVID-19 that makes it replicate 100 times less while also being less toxic and more effective than chloroquine.

The team from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in the city of Rio de Janeiro in the southeastern Brazilian state of the same name tested the effectiveness of atazanavir, a drug reportedly used since 2003 to treat AIDS patients, on the Sarc-CoV-2 virus.

The researchers found that on cell cultures the drug reduced the replication of the virus by up to 100 times.

Reports state that as the drug is potentially less toxic than other drugs which have been put forward for use on coronavirus such as Chloroquine – put forward as a potential treatment by Donald Trump – as it is used on AIDS patients.

The results of the test reportedly show that the drug should be tested on a larger scale and local media report it performed equally well or better than chloroquine.

The tests also showed that the drug reduced the inflammation associated with serious cases of COVID-19 but the researchers do not know if this reduction is due to the lowering of the quantity of the virus or the anti-inflammatory nature of the drug itself.

The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, which is reportedly the largest medical investigation centre in Latin America, said the drug “reduced the production of proteins that are linked to the inflammatory process in the lungs and, therefore, prevented the worsening of the clinical picture generated by the disease.”

The team from the foundation have begun tests on mice, according to the head of the study Thiago Moreno Souza. The drug is classed as a protease inhibitor and works by blocking this enzyme (protease) which is reportedly essential for the virus to multiply within invaded human cells.

The results were published in the magazine bioRxiv but has not yet been peer-reviewed due to the urgency of the situation with COVID-19.

Study chief Souza said: “With our study, we want to draw the attention of the scientific community to the fact that there is an interesting drug to be tested.”

If further studies prove successful the drug would be used for patients who have developed pneumonia but not the most severe stage of the disease where there is a generalised inflammatory reaction. The drug would instead be used to prevent this stage from occurring.

The tests were carried out with assistance from the Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectology, the D’Or Research Institute and Iguacu University.

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