Coronavirus: drug seems to work - but then a Chinese study causes a stir

Coronavirus: A hundred-year-old vaccine is becoming topical, a drug is having great success - two positive reports raise hopes.

• Because the development of new drugs and vaccines can take years, the coronavirus * research * relies on what is already known.
• Reliable results from the USA on the active ingredient remdesivir are now encouraging.
• A hundred-year-old vaccine * against tuberculosis is also becoming more interesting. The most important thing about Corona is also available on our brand new Facebook page Corona News. Become a fan now.

April 24 update: A drug for the lung disease Covid-19 would have cleared the first hurdle in the coronavirus pandemic . At least the disease could then be effectively combated instead of just treating the symptoms as before. There is currently particular hope for the US product Remdesivir, which is currently being investigated in studies worldwide. In the short term, reports from China caused a stir, according to which the product was unsuccessful. 

Coronavirus: drug seems to work - but Chinese study causes a stir

Manufacturers and doctors, on the other hand, warn against hasty conclusions in both directions. The drug has brought initial success to patients at Munich Clinic Schwabing , said Clemens Wendtner, chief physician of the clinic for infectiology involved in the study.

According to conservative estimates, half of the patients treated with it benefited, said Wendtner, who did not give a number. It appears that seriously ill people could be taken off the ventilators earlier. Doctors in the United States also reported first encouraging experiences. According to media reports, 125 Corona patients were treated with the drug in Chicago . According to reports, the manufacturer wants to publish an interim analysis of 400 patients with severe course shortly.

On Thursday, a publication surprisingly caused a stir, according to which a Chinese study with remdesivir is said to have given disappointing results. The antiviral drug has proven to be a flop, according to reports in a document published on the World Health Organization (WHO) website - which was, however, removed after a short time.

Coronavirus: A drug seems to work - but the Chinese study is causing a stir

The US manufacturing company Gilead Sciences rejected the reports, which promptly hit the company's share price. The stock turned significantly into the red. The company said there was no permission to publish the results. The study was terminated prematurely due to low participation, so no statistically meaningful conclusions could be drawn. "In this respect, the study results are not conclusive, although trends in the data suggest a potential benefit for remdesivir, especially in patients who are treated early in the disease," said Gilead Sciences. Results from worldwide studies with seriously and moderately ill patients are expected in late May.

In Germany , the studies in addition to the Schwabinger Clinic include the Munich Klinikum Rechts der Isar of the Technical University of Munich, the Hamburg University Hospital Eppendorf and the University Hospital Düsseldorf. It was still too early for a final assessment, said Wendtner, who had treated the first Corona cases nationwide in January. Around 7,600 patients are expected to participate in the studies worldwide. "We haven't even recruited half of it."

Regarding the controversial Chinese study , Wendtner said that just under half of the 453 seriously ill patients targeted were treated with the drug. This does not allow a reliable statement. In addition, it was not defined what was considered a severe Covid 19 disease. The ultimately unreliable Chinese interim results should not jeopardize the continuation of the ongoing studies.

Coronavirus: drug seems to work - but Chinese study causes a stir

Wendtner said that it was necessary to “wait and see” what this would bring. At the end of May, data should be available "which will then allow a final statement regarding Remdesivir ". At the moment, however, the following applies: "There is still no drug that has been proven to work with Covid-19." It is all the more important to take the dangers seriously and to adhere to protective measures.

Other existing drugs , including an anti-malaria drug and an HIV drug, would have had no success : The chloroquine used against malaria, which US President Donald Trump had praised as a miracle cure for Covid-19, had no success. One study even suggested that the drug, which, depending on the dosage, could have serious side effects, drove the death rate in Covid 19 patients. According to another study, another HIV drug that he initially hoped would remain without effect, said Wendtner.

Coronavirus: a drug seems to work - vertebrae around chin

April 24 update: A drug for the lung disease Covid-19 would have cleared the first hurdle in the coronavirus pandemic . At least the disease could then be effectively combated instead of just treating the symptoms as before. There is currently particular hope for the US product Remdesivir, which is currently being investigated in studies worldwide. In the short term, reports from China caused a stir, according to which the product was unsuccessful. 

Manufacturers and doctors, on the other hand, warn against hasty conclusions in both directions. The drug has brought initial success to patients at Munich Clinic Schwabing , said Clemens Wendtner, chief physician of the clinic for infectiology involved in the study.

Coronavirus: A drug seems to work

According to conservative estimates, half of the patients treated with it benefited, said Wendtner, who did not give a number. It appears that seriously ill people could be taken off the ventilators earlier. Doctors in the United States also reported first encouraging experiences. According to media reports, 125 Corona patients were treated with the drug in Chicago . According to reports, the manufacturer wants to publish an interim analysis of 400 patients with severe course shortly.

On Thursday, a publication surprisingly caused a stir, according to which a Chinese study with remdesivir is said to have given disappointing results. The antiviral drug has proven to be a flop, according to reports in a document published on the World Health Organization (WHO) website - which was, however, removed after a short time.

The US manufacturing company Gilead Sciences rejected the reports, which promptly hit the company's share price. The stock turned significantly into the red. The company said there was no permission to publish the results. The study was terminated prematurely due to low participation, so no statistically meaningful conclusions could be drawn. "In this respect, the study results are not conclusive, although trends in the data suggest a potential benefit for remdesivir, especially in patients who are treated early in the disease," said Gilead Sciences. Results from worldwide studies with seriously and moderately ill patients are expected in late May.

Coronavirus: A drug seems to work 

In Germany , the studies in addition to the Schwabinger Clinic include the Munich Klinikum Rechts der Isar of the Technical University of Munich, the Hamburg University Hospital Eppendorf and the University Hospital Düsseldorf. It was still too early for a final assessment, said Wendtner, who had treated the first Corona cases nationwide in January. Around 7,600 patients are expected to participate in the studies worldwide. "We haven't even recruited half of it."

Regarding the controversial Chinese study , Wendtner said that just under half of the 453 seriously ill patients targeted were treated with the drug. This does not allow a reliable statement. In addition, it was not defined what was considered a severe Covid 19 disease. The ultimately unreliable Chinese interim results should not jeopardize the continuation of the ongoing studies.

Wendtner said that it was necessary to “wait and see” what this would bring. At the end of May, data should be available "which will then allow a final statement regarding Remdesivir ". At the moment, however, the following applies: "There is still no drug that has been proven to work with Covid-19." It is all the more important to take the dangers seriously and to adhere to protective measures.

Other existing drugs , including an anti-malaria drug and an HIV drug, would have had no success : The chloroquine used against malaria, which US President Donald Trump had praised as a miracle cure for Covid-19, had no success. One study even suggested that the drug, which, depending on the dosage, could have serious side effects, drove the death rate in Covid 19 patients. According to another study, another HIV drug that he initially hoped would remain without effect, said Wendtner.

Coronavirus: A drug seems to work - even a 100-year-old vaccine gives hope

Update of April 18, 10:50 pm: A Viennese infectiologist warned of premature euphoria when looking for a drug against the coronavirus with a view to the remdesivir. The most important thing about the topic is also on our brand new Facebook page Corona News. Become a fan now.

Results of ongoing studies are expected in May or June, and then it will be seen “whether it promises what we hope for,” said Christoph Wenisch, head of the infection department at the Kaiser-Franz-Josef Hospital in the Austrian capital.

Cure for Corona? The Ebola drug Remdesivir.

© dpa / Ulrich Perrey

Remdesivir  is usually used to treat Ebola patients.

Corona drug: experiments with remdesivir

Update of April 18, 11:43 am: A small-scale experiment with monkeys is hoping that the remdesivir remedy will help against the coronavirus-induced lung disease Covid-19.

 The animals' state of health had improved significantly twelve hours after treatment, and this trend would then have continued over the entire one-week study period .

The scientists infected two groups of six rhesus monkeys each  with the pathogen Sars-Cov-2. One of the two groups was given the active ingredient remdesivir twelve hours later, shortly before the virus concentration in the lungs peaked.

While only one of the animals in the treatment group suffered from breathing difficulties despite the remdesivir therapy , the health of the control group deteriorated rapidly. Here, all six monkeys struggled with severe breathing difficulties .

Coronavirus: "Remdesivir" apparently works - even a 100-year-old vaccine gives hope

First report from April 17th:

Chicago / Brazil / Munich - It has long been known that remdesivir, an active ingredient that has been tested in the fight against Ebola, may also be effective against SARS-CoV-2 and cure the disease Covid-19. A Munich infectiologist is also working on this and other active substances in collaboration with other researchers worldwide. A Munich risk patient * was even cured of a coronavirus infection with the drug. 

However, according to the US health magazine Stat, there are increasing signs that remdesivir could really become the first approved active ingredient. The US pharmaceutical company Gilead - one of the largest pharmaceutical companies worldwide - is currently carrying out a study in collaboration with several hospitals. Official results are not yet available - but first results are seeping out of Chicago that give hope. 133 patients were treated with remdesivir, including 125 in critical condition. Most of the symptoms * such as fever and breathing problems decreased after a few days and could be released. "Only" three patients died.

Coronavirus drug: Sad news from Brazil

How narrow the line on which researchers and doctors are walking can be seen, for example, in Brazil : Here, too, people hopefully opted for a new drug - but with a completely different result. Of 81 patients treated with the malaria drug chloroquine, 11 died, the study in Manau was canceled, as Deutsche Welle reports - dismayed that people from risk groups * were apparently treated here with an overdosed drug cocktail of chloroquine and antibiotics.

The use of ventilators in the treatment of Covid19 - for a long time the number of ventilators was considered the measure of all things in the fight against the novel corona virus - has become a matter of controversy.

Mai Nguyen-Kim spoke about the difficulty of communicating science well in a YouTube video - and showed that a well-known virologist in particular is struggling.

Coronavirus vaccine: can a hundred-year-old drug help?

Tuberculosis vaccine could activate the immune system and thus alleviate the course of a Covid 19 disease. The VPM1002 vaccine developed at @mpiib_berlin is now also being tested for its effectiveness in corona infections.https: //t.co/quclQkePJC

A vaccine of all things that could never convince against another disease is now gaining the interest of researchers - a study with a thousand volunteers has started in Hanover . Doctors as well as nursing and emergency services personnel were vaccinated here with the Bacillus-Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine - it should have been used against tuberculosis a hundred years ago and is now being used with improved genetic engineering. An immunity to SARS-CoV-2 is not expected from this active ingredient, but that it strengthens people's immune defenses against the virus. 

Or will there possibly be no vaccine against Sars-CoV-2?

In Germany, a 101-year-old towered out of a senior citizen's home because she wanted to congratulate her daughter on her birthday - she did this with the help of the police.

Other countries, different customs: Meanwhile, a strictly devout Hindu in India wanted to stop the corona pandemic with a bizarre ritual of faith.

* tz.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network

Rubric list image: © AFP / OLIVIER DOULIERY