Leprosy drug holds promise as at-home treatment for COVID-19.

[2greys]

A Nature study authored by scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and the University of Hong Kong shows that the leprosy drug clofazimine, which is FDA approved and on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines, exhibits potent antiviral activities against SARS-CoV-2 and prevents the exaggerated inflammatory response associated with severe COVID-19. Based on these findings, a Phase 2 study evaluating clofazimine as an at-home treatment for COVID-19 could begin immediately.

“Clofazimine is an ideal candidate for a COVID-19 treatment. It is safe, affordable, easy to make, taken as a pill and can be made globally available,” says co-senior author Sumit Chanda, Ph.D., professor and director of the Immunity and Pathogenesis Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys. “We hope to test clofazimine in a Phase 2 clinical trial as soon as possible for people who test positive for COVID-19 but are not hospitalized. Since there is currently no outpatient treatment available for these individuals, clofazimine may help reduce the impact of the disease, which is particularly important now as we see new variants of the virus emerge and against which the current vaccines appear less efficacious.”

sbpdiscovery.org/news/lepro...

Nature. Study Paper (a PDF file):

nature.com/articles/s41586-...

[annienell]

This is really interesting and hopeful 2greys. It makes good sense to be able to utilise an already tried and tested drug, which shows signs of making a difference against Covid. Thanks for finding and sharing these articles.

[2greys in reply to annienell]

It is good to hear from you again, I trust you are as well as can be expected.

[annienell in reply to 2greys]

Very well thanks. Feeling much safer having had my 1st vaccination at the end of January, and hoping that my 2nd one won't be too delayed by the latest news of reduced supplies. I had absolutely no side effects and was slightly concerned that perhaps the expected immunity wasn't happening - but then heard it was an age thing. It seems that older people are less likely to have side effects - for once I feel I'm on the right side of 70!

[Alberta56]

That's good , as long as they don't divert supplies from people with leprosy.