Looking for an effective medicine

In the fight against the Corona pandemic, the focus is on vaccines. The search for drugs against Covid-19 is getting less attention. But although many vaccines have been approved, the disease has not yet gone away. What about medicines – an overview.

It seems that the federal government has high hopes for the so-called antibody agents for Covid 19 diseases. For Germany, it bought 200 thousand boxes for 400 million euros. According to the Federal Ministry of Health, these are the drugs REGN-COV2 and Bamlavinimab. Both agents have already received emergency approval in the US, but they have not been approved in the European Union. REGN-COV2 gained global fame last October after then-US President Trump treated this cocktail of antibodies. We have detailed information about antibody agents Here Assemble and produce.

There are also many other approaches to treating Covid-19 patients. Several drugs that have already been developed for other diseases have been tried. Because it may take years for completely new drugs to be developed and approved. However, there have also been setbacks in treatment attempts. High hopes were placed on Remdesivir, which was originally developed against hepatitis C and Ebola. Ultimately, studies show that this is the case Only in limited cases It had an effect on the course of the disease in the case of infection with the Coronavirus. More connections are still under exploration.

German company depends on ‘gatekeeper’ setup

In Bavaria, the pharmaceutical company Formycon is looking for a so-called Coronavirus inhibitor. The drug is called FYB207, and according to the company, it uses the property of corona viruses to penetrate or spread further through receptors on the surface of human body cells. This receptor is blocked by the worker – and with it the portal to the organism. This is called an antibody fusion protein that can be used, according to the research results, to effectively bind to the SARS coronavirus.

Formycon head, Brockmeyer, sees an opportunity, especially for critically ill Covid-19 patients, to try a milder course. “It means that (these) patients also have a treatment option,” Brocker said in an interview. tagesschau.de. “We are closing the entry gate that the virus uses to penetrate cells. This provides maximum protection against mutations. This is how we can also prevent future coronavirus epidemics,” Brockmeyer confirms.

However, it may take some time before the drug is ready for market: The company does not expect approval to be granted for at least a year.

Flu medicine is supposed to stop the transmission of corona viruses

The flu drug with the complex label MK-4482 / EIDD-2801 takes a different approach. American researchers believe that the agent can stop the spread of corona viruses in the body. The research team from Atlanta wrote in Nature Microbiology Published a study, Which proves in animal experiments that the drug slows down the transmission of corona viruses within 24 hours.

The drug is also called molnopiravir. Scientists have tried the drug on rodents. Animals were given molnupiravir twice a day – as a result, exposure to Sars-CoV-2 in the upper airways was significantly reduced and spread to untreated contact animals was prevented. If efficacy in humans turns out to be similar, those with Covid 19 will not be contagious within 24 hours of taking the drug.

Money for more research

In fighting the epidemic, the federal government is not only relying on the use of vaccines, it is also relying on drugs for Covid 19 patients. It is funding drug development and clinical testing until the end of 2023.

Search details for other drugs Developed by our research editorial team. Primarily aimed at professionals A guide to the inpatient treatment of Covid-19 patientsCompiled by several professional associations.

(Base: 30.1.2021)

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+ Transmission: What role does aerosols play (Pregnant: 22.01.)
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