Georgia State Researchers Develop Drug That Can Stop Coronavirus Transmission

Scientists at the Georgia State University Institute for Biomedical Sciences have found that the MK-4482/EIDD-2801 antiviral drug, which was developed to treat the SARS-CoV-2 infection, completely stops transmission of the virus in 24 hours.

The researchers, led by distinguished Georgia State University professor Dr. Richard Plemper, initially discovered that the drug was strong against influenza viruses. Plemper explains that this was the first test for a drug that is orally available and that can stop the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. He adds that MK-4482/EIDD-2801 may be a game-changer.

Stopping the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on a wide scale until vaccination is available to the masses is key, as it allows authorities to manage the coronavirus while reducing the catastrophic consequences the pandemic may create.

As the drug can be ingested orally, treatment can commence early for the following benefits: to quickly avert any local outbreaks; to cut down the infectious phase, which will in turn relieve both the socioeconomic and emotional toll of patient isolation; and to slow down the progress of the deadly disease.

Plemper also explains that in the early stages of the study, the researchers noted that MK-4482/EIDD-2801 can be used to fight against many respiratory RNA viruses, adding that when used by mouth to treat infected animals, the drug decreased the number of viral particles that were shed, which decreased transmission. These attributes made the drug a strong coronavirus pharmacologic control candidate.

Plemper’s team reused the drug on a ferret model to observe the impact the drug had on stopping the virus from spreading. The study, which was published in “Nature Microbiology,” documents these findings in detail. The researchers initiated the MK-4482/EIDD-2801 treatment after the ferrets began to discharge the virus through their noses after they had been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The co-lead author of the study, Dr. Robert Cox, states that the researchers believed ferrets to be a suitable transmission model because, while they mostly don’t develop the SARS-CoV-2 disease, they readily spread it. This bears a resemblance to how the virus is spread in young adults.

Another co-lead author of the study, Josef Wolf, a Plemper lab doctoral student, observed that no ferrets were infected with the virus when the researchers joined ferrets that were infected with the virus but had been treated with ferrets that did not have the virus. Translated to humans, this means that patients who have the coronavirus and are treated using this drug could become non-infectious within the first 24 hours after their treatment commenced. The drug is currently in its phase 2 and 3 of advanced clinical trials.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus isn’t the only health threat that we are currently confronted by. Cancer is another growing problem, which is keeping lots of firms hard at work. For instance, Predictive Oncology (NASDAQ: POAI) has devoted all its energies towards developing customized cancer treatments by tapping the powers of data analytics and AI.

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