The experimental antiviral remdesivir has been shown to slow the progression of Covid-19 in monkeys, according to an American study published Friday by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.
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Two groups made up of six monkeys
The preliminary experiment, which has not yet been evaluated by the scientific community, was designed to supplement studies using remdesivir in hospital patients infected with coronavirus in a large clinical trial. It was carried out on two groups made up of six monkeys, which all inoculated the virus SARS-CoV-2, responsible for the disease Covid-19.
One group received the antiviral remdesivir, developed by the American laboratory Gilead Sciences, and the other group received no treatment for comparison. 12 hours after the injection of the virus, the group of treated monkeys received a "dose of intravenous remdesivir", then "a daily booster dose every day for six days," the institute said in a statement.
One of the first drugs used against coronavirus
The scientists made sure to administer the treatment just before the disease reached its strongest virulence in the lungs. Only one of the macdes treated with remdesivir had mild breathing difficulties while the six untreated monkeys reported rapid and difficult breathing.
"The amount of virus present in the lungs was significantly lower in the treated group compared to the untreated group, and SARS-CoV-2 caused less damage to the lungs in treated animals than in untreated ones" , say the scientists. The antiviral remdesivir was one of the first drugs used as an experimental treatment for the new coronavirus. Randomized clinical trials are in an advanced stage of development.
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High efficiency in a Chicago hospital
The American health news site Stat has reported that the drug had shown great effectiveness in a Chicago hospital, where patients participating in these trials are hospitalized. Remdesivir changes inside the human body to look like one of the four building blocks of DNA, the nucleotides.
When viruses replicate, they do so "quickly and somewhat carelessly," according to virologist Benjamin Neuman. Remdesivir could be incorporated into the virus during one of these replications. The antiviral would add unwanted mutations to the virus that could destroy it.