Global Health Asia-Pacific July 2020 July 2020 | Page 67

Scientists are making steady progress on antibodies and testing for COVID19
in 14 days, making it a potential candidate for further
investigation�, said the professor on revealing the
findings.
�ut he also called for the results to be interpreted
cautiously. �The challenges in the development of
a COVID-19 vaccine are unprecedented, and the
ability to trigger these immune responses does not
necessarily indicate that the vaccine will protect
humans from COVID-19. This result shows a promising
vision for the development of COVID-19 vaccines,
but we are still a long way from this vaccine being
available to all.�
As for drugs that can treat people already infected
with COVID-19, a compound that has been touted as
a game changer against COVID-19 is the anti-malarial
drug hydroxychloroquine.
In vitro studies performed several years ago
suggested that the drug could inhibit viral replication,
though the results have not been observed in animal
models. �oth its dosage and mechanism of action are
known for preventing infection, but still no information
exists to indicate its effectiveness in preventing
transmission or treating COVID-19 infection.
Despite these unknowns about its efficacy,
�niversity of Adelaide pharmacology researcher Dr Ian
Musgrave believes that trials of HC� as a preventive
treatment could be worthwhile.
�Its mechanism acts to hamper the virus’s ability to
infect cells. In this way, it could be said that it may be
more effective at prevention than treatment,� he told
�lobal Health Asia-�acific.
Another possible treatment candidate is remdesivir,
a broad-spectrum antiviral medication. At the end
of April, the �.�. �ational Institutes of Health (�IH)
announced the preliminary results of a trial that
showed that advanced COVID-19 patients who
received remdesivir recovered faster than similar
patients who received a placebo.
The results from the randomised, controlled
trial involving 1,063 patients differ from a separate
smaller trial in China published at the same time that
showed no clinical benefit for remdesivir in COVID-19
patients. Many believe this latter trial was flawed,
however.
�The �IH trial was seen to be positive and reduced
the duration of symptoms of COVID-19 infection
by four days. That is, patients receiving placebo
had a duration of symptoms of 15 days and those
receiving remdesivir, 11 days,� said Dr �hillip Reece, a
pharmaceutical consultant in Australia, in a statement.
�This appears to be the first clinical trial to report
a statistically significant benefit of an antiviral against
COVID-19. The fact that there was a reduction in
duration of symptoms of 31 percent in hospitalised
patients with advanced COVID-19 and lung
involvement is encouraging,� he added.
Regardless of the progress of these trials, or how
successful the hunt for a reliable antibody test will be,
we are still only near the starting point in our scientific
efforts to control and wipe out COVID-19.
Measures like social distancing and movement
restrictions have been shown to be effective in
countries that have used them, while people emerging
from lockdown around the world are being warned by
their governments that they may be asked to do it all
again if widespread infection reemerges.
As for drugs
that can treat
people already
infected with
COVID-19, a
compound
that has been
touted as a
game changer
against
COVID-19
is the antimalarial
drug
hydroxychloroquine
GlobalHealthAndTravel.com
JULY 2020
65