Coronavirus was first discovered by a 55-year-old individual from Hubei province in China on November 17, 2019. The World Health Organization declared the rapidly spreading Coronavirus a pandemic on March 11th. As of 7:00 p.m. on April 18, Corona has caused 2,173,203 confirmed cases and 144,950 casualties worldwide. The United States marked the highest rates of confirmation with Spain, Italy, and Germany following behind the U.S. Many companies announced that they are searching for certain types of treatment drugs that worked for similar respiratory diseases such as SARS and MERS. However, the treatment drugs have not been invented.
Trials of the SARS-CoV-2 treatment drugs
The Gilead Sciences company presented Remdesivir as a SARS-CoV-2 treatment drug. Remdesivir was created to treat the Ebola virus and it disassembles the growth of the virus in the RNA-dependent. Remdesivir differed from previous experimental treatments like Monoclonal antibodies, Chloroquine, and Lopinavir-ritonavir. The first experimental treatment aimed to fuse the Monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. For the next trial, the researchers used Chloroquine, known for Malaria drugs, to make intracellular environments more alkaline and prevent virus growth. Sequentially, Lopinavir - ritonavir, known as the AIDS drug was an experimental subject to disturb proteolysis (the breakdown of proteins ) against SARS-CoV-2. However, insufficient results of the experiments turned the direction of the research to Remdesivir. Ultimately, Gilead promoted the research on Remdesivir. The Clinical Trial for Remdesivir
Remdesivir has been re-illuminated after Remdesivir was used for U.S. patients infected SARS-CoV-2 in Snohomish County, Washington, as a “compassionate use.” Following the increasing rates of use of Remdesivir, a joint research team from the United States, Europe, and Japan announced on the 10th the results of a multi-state clinical trial on Remdesivir, which has been conducted on patients with SARS-CoV-2. The researchers judged Remdesivir is the best possible SARS-CoV-2 treatment drug for now.
The clinical trial was conducted on a total of 53 severe COVID-19 patients undergoing inpatient treatment from January 25 to March 7. 53 patients including 22 U.S. citizens, 22 Europeans/Canadians, and 9 Japanese confirmed cases. The average age is 64 and consists of patients between 48 and 71 years old. The patients were divided into 4 stages of Oxygen therapy. Before the Remdesivir clinical trial, 34 patients relied on a mechanical ventilator, 7 patients used noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation, 10 used hyperbaric Oxygen therapy, and 2 patients did not use the therapy. The Result of the Clinical Trial
On April 10, 2020, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) opened the records of the clinical trial to the public. 19 (56%) of mechanical ventilator-using patients, 5 (71%) of noninvasive positive-pressure using patients, 12 (100%) of hyperbaric oxygen using patients, and non-oxygen therapy patients were recovered against SARS-CoV-2. The Remdesivir clinical trial that recorded 68% of recovery is the best possible drug for now.
The degree of improvement differs depending on the age and the progressive phases of patients. Accordingly, the older the patients are, and the higher the progress phase the patients are placed, the lower the rate of improvement rate. The result gave the first promise and provided hope to the SARS-CoV-2. Gilead showed pride towards the Remdesivir. Gilead announced they plan to market Remdesivir officially in 2 years. Gilead plans to donate free of charge to the antiviral drug Remdecivir and expands the productions. Bibliography Grein, J., Grein, J., Zhang, Y., Doremalen, N. van, & Sinai Medical Center. (2020, April 10). Compassionate Use of Remdesivir for Patients with Severe COVID-19: NEJM. Retrieved from https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2007016?query=featured_home Situation Summary. (2020, March 26). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/summary.html Coronavirus Cases: (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ Omudhome Ogbru, P. D. (2019, July 25). Monoclonal Antibodies: List, Types, Side Effects, FDA Uses (Cancer). Retrieved from https://www.medicinenet.com/monoclonal_antibodies/article.htm Schrezenmeier, E., & Dörner, T. (2020, February 7). Mechanisms of action of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine: implications for rheumatology. Retrieved from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41584-020-0372-x (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.Jwatch.org /na51172/2020/03/24/ lopinavir-ritonavir- was-not-effective-covid-19
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