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Nowadays, with the world's great interest in the development of therapeutics, a cell experiment has shown that certain anthelmintic drugs inhibit the Corona19 virus.

It's not yet available for patients, but reporter Nam Joo-Hyun reports what stage it is.

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An anthelmintic drug called ivermectin is a medicine that is effective in eliminating various parasites such as dystrophy.

After a Japanese scholar who discovered this ingredient received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2015, research on whether it can be used for other purposes such as antiviral drugs, antibiotics, and anticancer drugs is in full swing.

Laboratory research has also demonstrated the effectiveness of AIDS virus suppression.

It was a way to suppress specific proteins that are closely related to virus multiplication.

However, research has shown that ivermectin works similarly against the virus that causes corona19.

After the Australian team infected the cells with corona19 virus and injected ivermectin, 48 hours later, all of the viral material disappeared.

However, ivermectin cannot be given to corona19 confirmed patients right away.

This is because it is only the result of experiments conducted on cells in the laboratory.

As it is not the result of clinical trials conducted on animals or humans, verification of safety and effectiveness is necessary.

[Jin-Yang Yang / Deputy Director, Food and Drug Administration: Since the absorption rate is low in the case of anthelmintics, it is thought that additional research such as clinical trials will be needed to develop it as a therapeutic agent.]

In Korea, there are no human repellents for ivermectin that are licensed for sale.

In the absence of Corona19 treatment, there are voices saying that we should hurry up research and clinical trials for drugs with various potentials, including ivermectin.

(Video coverage: Jongsu Hong · Mincheol Kim, video editing: Hojin Kim, screen source: Carter Center, USA)