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Why is it so difficult to develop a cure for corona? Expert responds - Walla! health

2021-05-03T13:42:51.410Z


There is no cure for Corona yet, but experts are working on its development, including Pfizer, which developed the vaccines for the virus. What does the future hold and when will it be ready? An expert explains


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Why is it so difficult to develop a cure for corona?

Expert responds

Despite the effectiveness of vaccines in stopping the global epidemic, researchers are working to find a cure that can cure those who have already been infected with corona and save lives.

Prof. Johnny Gershuni, a researcher in viruses and vaccines at Tel Aviv University, explains why it is not that simple and how Pfizer's drug is progressing.

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  • Corona

  • Corona virus

  • Medication

  • germs

  • Viruses

  • antibiotics

Prof. Johnny Gershuni

Friday, 30 April 2021, 07:14 Updated: 07:15

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In the video: Cremation of dead bodies from Corona in India (Photo: Reuters, Editing: Assaf Drori)

We all went out to get to the family doctor with a sore throat, cough and fever, then to be sent home as we came claiming it was viral and antibiotics would not help.

But have you ever wondered why there is no cure for viruses?

And will there ever be an effective cure for corona?



Antibiotics are very specific drugs that work only against bacteria, and do not work at all on viruses.

After the corona year, we all internalized that bacteria are not viruses, and that they are treated differently.

In fact, until the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic in 1982, there were no effective drugs against viruses.

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The effectiveness of antibiotics lies in the fact that they bind specifically to the bacterial proteins, thereby inhibiting its culture. The problem with viruses is that most of the essential proteins that work in their replication process are our own proteins, of our cells, which the virus has "snatched" and recruited in its favor. It follows that any substance that binds to a "kidnapped" protein to interfere with its function, may also inhibit essential processes for our body's functioning routine. Therefore, such substances will be toxic and unsuitable as drugs.



In order to develop an antiviral drug against viruses, a real viral protein must be found - a protein that is essential and necessary for the replication of the virus and is not a human protein that is recruited by the virus in its favor. In the case of HIV and AIDS, for example, two such proteins have been found: the viral protein essential for HIV gene replication, and an enzyme necessary for the processing of viral proteins called protease. Substances that inhibit these two essential proteins are the ingredients in the famous "cocktail" that is so important in the treatment of AIDS.

Corona Department at Hillel Yaffe Hospital (Photo: Reuven Castro)

And what about the corona?

With the outbreak of the plague, scientists tried to look for existing drugs among those intended for other viruses in the hope that they would be found to be effective against the corona.

For example, the drug developed against the Ebola-REMDESIVIR virus was tried, but was found to be particularly ineffective against covid-19.

Pfizer recently announced that it has begun clinical trials of a new drug they have developed against Corona.

This time there is a real chance to provide a cure for this disease.

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Pfizer researchers focused on the protein of the corona - the protease of the virus, similar to the anti-HIV cocktail ingredient mentioned earlier. It turns out that corona has genes that lead to the formation of about 20 essential viral proteins. Spike (spike) for example, the envelope protein of the virus, has been talked about a lot, but there are other proteins without which the virus is unable to replicate.



These proteins are not formed one by one, but are built as a very long chain in which each protein is bound to its neighbor - head to tail. In order to activate the proteins one has to cut between them and thereby release each protein and protein separately. The protease of the corona is the unique protein for the virus that knows how to locate the exact point of intersection between the various proteins in the chain, release them and bring about their function and finally the replication of new viruses.



Pfizer's new drug, called PF-07321332, inhibits corona protease.

Experiments have already shown that the drug is effective in laboratory tests, and now, as part of human clinical trials, which have only recently begun, its safety is being tested.

Only after this phase will clinical trials continue to test the efficacy of the drug in the treatment of covid-19.

This time there is definitely room for optimism.



Prof. Johnny Gershuni is a researcher in viruses and vaccines, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University

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