Covid-19

 

Early-Stage COVID-19 Treatments Are Urgently Needed

Despite encouraging news on Monday regarding a Moderna vaccine candidate’s ability to stop COVID-19, new treatments are still urgently needed for patients within the early stages of the virus.

Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, co-authored a viewpoint article last week emphasizing the necessity for research dedicated to the first stages of COVID-19. The article, also written by Sarah Read, MD, deputy director, NIAID Division of AIDS, and Peter Kim, MD, director, Treatment Research Program, NIAID Division of AIDS, was published on Veterans' Day in JAMA.1

“While treatment options for patients with severe disease requiring hospitalization are now available…interventions which will be administered early during the course of infection to stop disease progression and longer-term complications are urgently needed,” the researchers wrote.

Researchers are worried that news of effective vaccines, in spite of the very fact they’re not yet available, could turn attention faraway from vital COVID-19 research in other areas. Barry Bloom, Ph.D., professor of public health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Cambridge, Massachusetts, reminded reporters during a turn Monday that the vaccines, if authorized, are going to be distributed in phases supported need. they'll not be distributed to the overall public until April or later. And tons of spread can happen between now then . “Younger people tend to not have a significant illness, but they will , and if they get the virus, they will transmit it, and high cases may result ,” Bloom said on the decision .
Treatment for the early-stage, mild disease is critical to curbing this transmission. “Treating people early within the course of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, would speed their recovery, reduce the likelihood that they develop severe outcomes, and reduce demand on the healthcare system,” the NIAID researchers write.

Reducing severe outcomes is particularly important, the researchers say, since many of us have “long recoveries and develop long-lasting fatigue, mental impairment, and problems with heart and lung function.”
the great news is that research regarding early-stage therapeutics is underway. In an email to Verywell, Kim and skim discussed promising treatment developments in three categories:

Antiviral treatments that act directly on the virus and to assist stop it from replicating
Immune-modulating treatments that curtail the hyper-inflammatory reaction related to many COVID-19 symptoms
Antithrombotic drugs that prevent the hypercoagulation (blood clotting) related to COVID-19

Antiviral Treatments

Convalescent plasma is plasma taken from people that have had COVID-19 may contain antibodies to the SAR-CoV-2 virus. Therefore, it's going to be useful as a treatment for people that are ill.
Monoclonal antibodies, which are clones of a selected parent immune cell, can bind to or block SARS-CoV-2. Companies performing on manufacturing these antibodies include Eli Lilly, Regeneron, Astra Zeneca, Brii Biosciences, and Boehringer Ingelheim. Bamlanivimab, the version made by Eli Lilly, received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration last week.2 Currently, monoclonal antibodies are given as an intravenous treatment, which needs time within the hospital or a doctor’s office. But Kim and skim say they'll eventually be formulated as injectables, which could allow them to be used at scale.
Polyclonal antibodies, which are clones of several different immune cells, also are being developed against SARS-CoV-2. SAB Biotherapeutics is one company developing polyclonal antibodies.
Interferon-based treatments like Synairgen's SNG001 are inhaled through a nebulizer.

Immune-modulating Treatments

Read and Kim says there are many immune-modulating treatments within the pipeline, but some noteworthy candidates include:

Fluvoxamine may be a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor drug wont to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) which will also reduce the hyper-inflammatory response related to COVID-19. A study published in JAMA last week shows potentially promising effects of this drug.3
Leronlimab could also be ready to decrease the damaging immune reaction of COVID-19 in some people. it's also being evaluated as a possible treatment for cancer and HIV.4
Cyclosporine may be a drug commonly employed by transplant patients. it's going to impede negative immune effects seen in COVID-19 and possibly offer antiviral effects also .5

Antithrombotic Treatments

Apixaban and rivaroxaban are two samples of antithrombotics currently being evaluated to stop the hypercoagulation/blood clotting that has been related to some cases of COVID-19