Amid the world trying to find a potential cure for the novel coronavirus, an Australian study has found that a previously used anti-parasitic drug, Ivermectin, killed the COVID-19 virus, in a laboratory setting, within 48 hours.
The FDA-approved drug has also been proven to be effective in vitro with other kinds of viruses like HIV, dengue, influenza and the zika virus.
The research done by Monash University has shown that a single dose of the drug can stop the virus from growing in cell culture. Moreover, all genetic material of the virus was eradicated within two days. Dr Kylie Wagstaff, study lead on the research, said,
“We found that even a single dose could essentially remove all viral RNA by 48 hours and that even at 24 hours there was a really significant reduction in it,” he said.
Dr Wagstaff added that the tests have been done in-vitro and that trials on human beings still need to be conducted.
“The next step is to figure out whether the dosage you can use it at in humans will be effective. In times when we’re having a global pandemic, it is beneficial to have a drug that is already available in most parts of the world,” said Dr Wagstaff.
Even though, the mechanism by which I Ivermectin works on the virus is unknown, a guess can be taken on how it reacts to other viruses. The drug is known to stop the virus from dampening down the host cell’s ability to stop it. “We are still a considerable time away from a vaccine for the novel coronavirus,” Dr Wagstaff added.
Dr Wagstaff and Professor David Jans of the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute started working on the effect of Ivermectin on the virus since the start of the pandemic. Whether or not it can be used for the COVID-19 outbreak depends on the success of pre-clinical testing and further trials.
