5 drugs tested to treat corona pneumonia

In addition to vaccines, Chinese scientists are racing against time to find a drug to treat Corona pneumonia (Covid-19).

On February 5, health authorities approved the trial of the US drug Remdesivir in the treatment of pneumonia caused by the Corona virus. This was the decision of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the National Health Commission and the National Medical Products Administration.

In clinical trials, the drug proved effective in treating mice infected with SARS, reducing viral replication within two days. Remdesivir was also used to treat Ebola, which raged in West Africa in 2014, and was evaluated as safe. After the Ebola epidemic, researchers have more useful information.

Biologically, Remdesivir’s therapeutic target for nCoV is similar to SARS and other coronaviruses, even effective against the most unique strain, called porcine deltacoronavirus. Another report showed that Remdesivir can prevent the coronavirus from infecting cells in the laboratory, giving scientists hope.

Remdesivir is considered a leading candidate in the fight against the new coronavirus, according to experts. The drug is not yet licensed for production or sale anywhere in the world. If the trial is successful, it could be the first effective treatment for Covid-19.

In addition to Remdesivir, Chinese scientists are testing a combination of two HIV drugs, Ritonavir and Lopinavir, developed by biopharmaceutical company AbbVie and sold under the trade name Kaletra. The announcement was made on February 12 during a meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Many patients are currently being treated with the combination of these two drugs, but WHO does not have specific statistics. Experts are also uncertain about the effectiveness of the drug in treating nCoV. However, "it would be great if the drug cured the disease, because it is already used to treat HIV and is available as a generic drug on the market," said Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, a former WHO virus expert.

On February 16, the National Medical Products Administration approved the use of Favilavir, an anti-malarial drug that has produced its first batch, to treat Covid-19. The Zhejiang provincial government also announced on the same day that Favilavir was added to the treatment regimen for patients with coronavirus pneumonia.

Favilavir is undergoing clinical trials and has shown significant efficacy in treating the novel coronavirus, according to China's Ministry of Science and Technology. It is the first Covid-19 treatment drug approved for sale by the National Medical Products Administration since the outbreak.

On February 17, Chinese medical experts agreed to include Chloroquine Phosphate in the treatment regimen for Covid-19. According to Ms. Sun Yanrong, Chloroquine Phosphate was selected from tens of thousands of existing drugs and screened dozens of times before being tested to treat pneumonia caused by nCoV. The drug has been used for more than 70 years and is being tested at 10 hospitals in Beijing and the provinces of Guangdong and Hunan in China.

Over 100 patients have tried Chloroquine Phosphate, with clear health improvements such as fever reduction, improved lung X-ray images... This group of patients also had a faster recovery time and did not have any side effects when using the drug.

In addition, Mr. Xu Nanping, Vice Minister of Science and Technology of China also confirmed that traditional Chinese medicine has been proven to be effective in reducing the possibility of infection. Previously, Chinese health authorities officially added traditional medicine to the third phase of the Covid-19 treatment and diagnosis plan.