Coronavirus patients treated with an experimental hepatitis drug were FOUR times more likely to clear the infection within seven days, research shows.
- Peginterferon lambda is a man-made form of a naturally occurring protein that immune cells need to attack a virus and is mainly used to treat hepatitis
- Receptors for the drug are found in the lining of the lungs and intestines – the main areas where COVID-19 attacks – and the liver
- Researchers gave half of a group of 60 coronavirus patients one injection of the drug and the other half a placebo
- Patients who received the drug were four times more likely to have undetectable loads on day seven than the placebo group
- Of the 60 patients, five went to the emergency department, of which four in the placebo group and one in the treatment group.
COVID-19 patients treated with an experimental hepatitis drug were able to clear the virus more quickly, a new study suggests.
Those with mild symptoms were given peginterferon lambda, a man-made form of a naturally occurring protein that helps control respiratory disease by directing immune system cells to the site of infection.
Researchers found that patients who received one injection of the medication were four times more likely to have undetectable viral loads within seven days compared to a group treated with a placebo.
The team, from the Toronto Center for Liver Disease, University Health Network, say the findings prove the drug could help stop the spread of the virus through the community while the vaccine is being rolled out.
Researchers gave half of a group of 60 coronavirus patients one injection of an experimental hepatitis drug and the other half a placebo. Patients who received the drug were four times more likely to have undetectable loads on day seven than the placebo group (above)
Peginterferon lambda is a man-made form of a naturally occurring protein that immune cells need to attack a virus and is mainly used to treat hepatitis (above)
“ This treatment has great therapeutic potential, especially at the moment as we see aggressive variants of the virus spreading around the world that are less sensitive to both vaccines and antibody treatment, ” said Dr. Jordan Feld, a liver specialist at Toronto Center for Liver Disease.
Peginterferon lambda has been described in the past as giving a ‘call in the troops’ command so that immune cells can fight disease.
Receptors for the drug can be found in the lining of the lungs and intestines – the main areas where COVID-19 attacks – and the liver.
Most experimental treatments are being studied in hospital patients, but researchers want to see if peginterferon lambda can help avoid the need for hospitalization.
For the study, published in the journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, the team looked at 60 COVID-19 outpatients, those who do not require hospitalization at six centers between May 2020 and November 2020.
Half of the patients were randomly assigned to receive either one injection of peginterferon lambda or a placebo within seven days of symptom onset or within seven days of the first positive swab if asymptomatic.
One week after the injection, 80 percent of participants in the peginterferon-lambda group had undetectable viral loads, compared to 63 percent in the placebo group.
After adjusting for baseline viral load, patients who received the drug were four times more likely to have undetectable loads on day seven than the control group.
Treatment was even more pronounced in participants with higher viral levels, more than a million copies per milliliter.
Fifteen of the 19 patients in the peginterferon lambda group with these high levels had an undetectable burden on day seven, compared with six of the 16 in the placebo group.
“People who were treated cleared the virus quickly and the effect was most pronounced in those with the highest viral levels,” says Dr. Feld.
‘We also saw a trend towards faster improvement of respiratory complaints in the treated group.
Of the 60 patients, five went to the emergency department, of which four in the placebo group and one in the treatment group.
Feld said the drug helps lower virus levels quickly, preventing people from getting worse or spreading the disease to others.
“If we can lower the virus level quickly, people are less likely to spread the infection to others and we may even be able to shorten the time it takes for self-isolation,” he said.