The Institut Pasteur de Lille has tested more than 2,000 molecules to find an effective medication against the coronavirus.
Research is on track, with a drug that comes off, and the Institute must now collect 5 million euros to continue to finance the development of a possible treatment.
Finally, hope in the fight against the coronavirus ... The Institut Pasteur de Lille may have found the miracle molecule in the laboratory to obtain an effective treatment against the coronavirus by the start of 2021. The drug already exists in several European countries for other uses and the research of the Institut Pasteur de Lille seems very promising.
>> LIVE -
Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Wednesday, September 30
No or few side effects
The researchers tested more than 2,000 molecules to eventually find the rare pearl: a molecule effective against the virus, and which produces no or few side effects.
For several months, researchers tested it on human lung tissue reconstituted in the laboratory.
We must now test this molecule in a clinical trial.
Benoît Déprez, scientific director of the Institut Pasteur de Lille, explains that patients identified as positive for Covid-19 would then be treated "to lower their viral load and prevent them from being very contagious".
>>
Find Europe Matin in replay and podcast here
And that's not all.
"As we have put down the viral multiplication in the lungs", assures the scientific director of the Pasteur Institute of Lille, "we also have a reduction in the risk of tilting towards a serious disease".
To launch this clinical trial, the Institut Pasteur de Lille must first collect 5 million euros, keeping one objective in mind: to keep the name of the molecule secret.
The researchers want to avoid at all costs a frenzy around this drug even before its effectiveness is proven.