(TheDailyHorn.com) – A couple of potentially huge medical innovations in the fight against Covid-19 have arrived on the scene this year. One comes from Pfizer, and the other is from the Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Israel. Both are currently in the middle of phased trials and the results, so far, look positive.
Pfizer’s Potential Covid Cure
Human trials are underway on Pfizer’s antiviral protease inhibitor, which prevents the reproduction of the virus in the lungs, nose, and throat.
So far, the company has only tested the drug on animals, but the results appeared to indicate it could be safe for humans. Human trials have already begun in the US and Belgium. Scientists are encouraged by the results so far and are cautiously optimistic it could receive approval for use by the end of the year.
This drug comes in a pill form, and volunteers for the trial will go through a three-phase process. The testing will look into side effects, how the subjects tolerate the drug, and how food intake impacts the drug’s effectiveness and side effects.
The trial will last for approximately 145 days, with a 28-day screening and dosing period to follow. If there are no side effects and the drug passes the trial successfully, human testing could follow.
However, a Pfizer official acknowledged that it is a “race against time.” The company has to ensure they can cost-effectively develop the drug to produce something affordable quickly. In other words, it needs to pass financial tests as well as medical ones.
Israel’s Possible COVID Cure
Scientists are also working on a potential COVID-19 cure in Israel. This one involves an inhaled treatment called EXO-CD24. It fights against the immune system’s exaggerated reaction to the coronavirus, which many believe is the cause of most deaths from the virus. So far, the drug shows no side effects in completed phase 1 trials.
So far, testing indicates it works quickly, with 29 out of 30 test subjects seeing complete recovery within five days. All 30 test cases had moderate to severe symptoms, and the drug was able to help them all successfully recover.
As with the Pfizer drug, there are financial concerns about the viability of mass production of this treatment option.
While the Pfizer pill and the Israeli treatment are potential game-changers in the fight against Covid-19, concerns over the financial details may hold things back. This seems to be a common theme in medicine, but who is to say what makes something financially worthwhile when human lives are at stake?
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