Corona pills are already on the market, such as antibody preparations.
There are a number of other promising drugs, including molnupiravir.
So far, there are only a few drugs specifically used for Covid 19 patients in Germany.
These include remdesivir and antibody preparations.
The former is available as a concentrate for the infusion solution - i.e. it is administered intravenously.
Antibody drugs are also usually injected or given as an infusion.
Researchers have now also developed a promising corona drug in tablet form.
It is a new flu drug that also appears to be effective against coronaviruses.
Around a year has passed since the start of the corona pandemic.
Since then, scientists and doctors have been researching ways to successfully treat Covid-19 and thus prevent severe courses.
But there are still only a few approved drugs against Covid-19.
In many cases, medical professionals make do with the use of preparations that are used off-label
.
These are preparations that are not specifically approved for the treatment of Covid-19, but still show an effect.
These include, for example, blood-thinning medication *.
And according to US researchers, a new flu drug is also a promising active ingredient against corona.
In a
study published
in the journal
Nature Microbiology
, the research team led by Professor Richard K. Plemper from the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University in Atlanta came to the following conclusion:
The flu drug MK-4482 / EIDD-2801 - also known as molnupiravir - could also be used in People effectively inhibit the spread of coronavirus in the body
.
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Corona drug stops virus transmission within just 24 hours
The scientists originally wanted to develop an antiviral preparation for treating flu patients.
However, the team changed its objectives due to the coronavirus pandemic.
When manufacturing the drug, they focused on its effectiveness against Sars-CoV-2, the trigger for Covid-19.
The result is convincing - at least in animal experiments:
According to the researchers, the drug with the designation MK-4482 / EIDD-2801 or also molnupiravir can stop the transmission of coronaviruses within 24 hours.
The physicians had researched the drug in animal experiments with ferrets, since "ferrets and related members of the weasel genus transmit the virus with minimal clinical symptoms, which is similar to the spread in the human young-adult population," the researchers said in their publication.
The study directors found a high Sars-CoV-2 concentration especially in the nasal tissue and nasal secretions of the animals.
"The therapeutic treatment of infected animals with orally administered MK-4482 / EIDD-2801 twice a day significantly reduced the Sars-CoV-2 exposure in the upper respiratory tract and completely
suppressed the spread to untreated contact animals,
" said the researchers' study result.
It is now necessary to test how taking molnupiravir affects people.
In the best case, just like in the ferret model: Then Covid-19 sufferers would no longer be infectious within 24 hours of ingestion.
If clinical studies in humans demonstrate this effect and the drug is subsequently developed for the masses, taking molnupiravir could be a more suitable measure to contain the pandemic than corona vaccination due to its rapid effectiveness.
(jg)
*
Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editorial network
.
More sources: https://www.gelbe-liste.de/verbindstoffe/Remdesivir_56071;
https://www.vfa.de/de/arzneimittel-forschung/
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