A common drug normally used to treat cholesterol could reduce covid infections by up to 70%, according to a new study.
Lab tests, led by British scientists, showed that fenofibrate can “significantly reduce” infection by SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
Fenofibrate is usually prescribed to to treat abnormal levels of fatty substances in the blood – reports Wales Online.
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A research team, led by University of Birmingham and Keele University scientists, has shown that fenofibrate and its active form, fenofibric acid, can significantly reduce SARS-COV-2 infection in human cells in the laboratory.
The team said that, importantly, reduction of infection was obtained using concentrations of the drug which are “safe and achievable” using the standard clinical dose of fenofibrate.
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Fenofibrate, which is approved for use by most countries in the world is an oral drug currently used to treat conditions such as high levels of cholesterol and lipids in the blood.
The research team is now calling for clinical trials to test the drug in hospitalised Covid patients.
SARS-CoV-2 infects the host through an interaction between the ‘Spike’ protein on the surface of the virus and the ACE2 receptor protein on host cells.
In the new study, published in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology, the research team tested a panel of already licensed drugs including fenofibrate – to identify candidates that disrupt ACE2 and Spike interactions.
Having identified fenofibrate as a candidate, they then tested the efficacy of the drug in reducing infection in cells in the lab using the original strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus isolated in 2020.
The team found fenofibrate reduced infection by up to 70%. Additional unpublished data also indicates that fenofibrate is equally effective against the newer variants of SARS-CoV-2 – including the alpha and beta variants – and research is ongoing into its efficacy in the delta variant.
Corresponding author Dr Farhat Khanim, of the University of Birmingham, said: The development of new more infectious SARS-CoV-2 variants has resulted in a rapid expansion in infection rates and deaths in several countries around the world, especially the UK, US and Europe.
“Whilst vaccine programmes will hopefully reduce infection rates and virus spread in the longer term, there is still an urgent need to expand our arsenal of drugs to treat SARS-CoV-2-positive patients.
Co-corresponding author Dr Alan Richardson, of Keele University, said: Whilst in some countries vaccination programmes are progressing at speed, vaccine uptake rates are variable and for most low middle income countries, significant proportions of the population are unlikely to be vaccinated until 2022.
“Furthermore, whilst vaccination has been shown to reduce infection rates and severity of disease, we are as yet unsure of the strength and duration of the response.
“Therapies are still urgently needed to manage Covid-19 patients who develop symptoms or require hospitalisation.
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