The drug is called Ensovibep. It was developed in a lab in Switzerland and it shows great promise, says Marc Bonten. He works at UMC Utrecht and, together with his colleagues, is conducting research into the effect of the medicine.
“The tests with laboratory animals and the experiments in the lab give a lot of hope,” the doctor-microbiologist tells RTL Nieuws. “And the phase of testing on healthy people also showed that the drug is safe.”
Patients wanted
Now it is necessary to look at what the drug does to people who have contracted corona. The big question is: do patients who receive the drug recover earlier than patients who receive a placebo drug?
The hospital is looking for a hundred volunteers in the Netherlands who are ill and want to participate in the study. Worldwide, 2400 adults are needed, scientists in, for example, America and England are also participating in the research.
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The drug is a protein that can be administered once via an IV, within seven days of infection. “It was specially developed as a medicine against corona,” says Bonten. “Until now, there are only existing medicines, against other diseases, that are used to reduce the symptoms and to steer the disease in the right direction.”
‘Really groundbreaking’
If this drug works and is approved by the drug watchdog the EMA, then according to Bonten that is ‘really groundbreaking’. “Especially because we are now getting more and more mutations, of which we don’t know whether all vaccines work against them, and how well they work.”
One of the mutations of concern is the delta variant. We spoke to an expert about this earlier:
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Ensovibep is intended to prevent patients from becoming seriously ill because the infection cannot ‘jump’ from cell to cell. “It’s a revolutionary technique,” Bonten says. “And it has accelerated due to corona.”
Awaiting approval
Who can eventually get the drug, the research must show. If it can be scientifically proven that it works, it could be there this fall, says Bonten. Then it still has to be approved by the EMA, which assesses the medicines for Europe, and the FDA, which does that for medicines in America.
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“That can go quickly, just like with the corona vaccines, which were also given priority.” But there are several studies on drugs against the virus. “A lot of companies have all put ‘Willie Wortels’ together in recent months,” says Bonten. He suspects that there are about ten drugs that have been developed against corona and are now being tested.
“I don’t really care who comes first. The fact that these drugs are coming is really good news. It can save lives and keep patients out of intensive care.”
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