Heartburn Remedies: Famotidine as a Corona Drug – Health

Chinese farmers may have given the decisive indication of therapy against Covid-19. It sounds unlikely, but in medical history it has often happened that a drug successfully treats a condition for which it was not originally developed. An effect possibly that nobody had in mind. In this case, it is a remedy for heartburn. By chance, observation and tinkering on the computer, Chinese and American doctors came up with the idea that the stomach drug famotidine could also inhibit the proliferation of Sars-CoV-2.

Doctors in Wuhan noticed that almost every fifth patient over 80 died from the infection. However, among the sick, it was often the poorer Chinese who coped better with the infection. The doctors searched 6000 medical records and saw a surprising connection: Many Covid 19 patients complained of heartburn and reflux. Those who took the cheaper famotidine for the annoying evil apparently survived more than corona patients who had been given more expensive drugs such as omeprazole.

At first it was just an observation. The difference in the mortality rate among elderly patients from Covid-19 of 27 percent with omeprazole compared to 14 percent with famotidine also did not appear to be statistically significant. However, Harvard doctor Michael Callahan, who had stayed in Wuhan, continued to deal with the phenomenon after he returned to the United States. “Why do some of the older patients die and others don’t?” He asked.

Together with chemists and computer specialists, Callahan set out to find molecular structures of the virus that could be used for medication. The researchers focused on an enzyme that is essential for the replication of the virus, the papain-like protease (PLpro).

“If it works, we’ll know in a few weeks”

Since the exact structure of the protein is not yet known, the team extrapolated the structure from the structure of the Sars pathogen from 2003 and the RNA of the novel coronavirus. Like the specialist journal Science reports, the scientists subsequently tested more than 2,600 drug components in further simulations to determine whether they could fit the suspected structure of the virus enzyme. You have to imagine it like Lego for adults, only on the computer. Three candidates remained after thousands of models, famotidine was one of them.

The observations from Wuhan plus the hits on the PC convinced Northwell Health, a health company in New York that operates 23 hospitals and various research institutions, to start a clinical study. In April, 200 Covid-19 patients were already treated with famotidine in a randomized, double-blind study, with a total of more than 1,100. The patients received the drug intravenously and not orally, as is common with reflux problems. As soon as 400 patients have been treated, the publication of the first interim results is planned, according to a spokesman. “If it works, we’ll know in a few weeks,” research leader Kevin Tracey is quoted as saying. “We didn’t want to talk about the topic too early so that there were no bottlenecks and no wrong conclusions were drawn.”

According to the report in Science, some US media have taken up the subject. But even if it is theoretically plausible that famotidine could alleviate the severe course of Covid-19, the remedy for acid regurgitation is at best a glimmer of hope. Famotidine does not appear in an evaluation of previous treatment options from the US National Health Institute. Even the independent one Pharmaceutical letter German doctors and pharmacists have so far not mentioned the product as a treatment option.

Experts warn of hasty conclusions that so much is currently being exaggerated

“A lot is happening right now, there is often exaggeration and a lot is dropped,” says Wolf-Dieter Ludwig, editor of the Drug letter. “We have to be very careful with hasty conclusions. To classify candidates for the treatment of Covid-19, we need reliable randomized, controlled trials.” Pharmacologist Jerry Avorn has just New England Journal of Medicine warned against shortening proven forms of drug approval in times of Corona: “There is a wrong dilemma outlined between careful examination and early therapy. Clinical evidence and conscientious evaluation are essential, but quick solutions are often risky.”