A new drug called EIDD-2801 is expected to change the way doctors treat new coronary pneumonia. The drug can reduce lung damage in animal tests and is about to enter human clinical trials.
The study was conducted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the results were published in the Journal of Scientific Translational Medicine.
The study found that as a preventive agent, EIDD-2801 can prevent severe lung injury in infected mice.
EIDD-2801 is an oral form of the antiviral compound EIDD-1931, which can be taken as a pill and can be properly absorbed into the lungs.
When treatment is given 12 or 24 hours after the start of infection, EIDD-2801 can reduce lung injury and weight loss in mice.
This time is expected to be longer in humans because the time between the onset and death of human coronavirus disease is usually longer than in mice.
The researchers said that this new drug not only has high potential in treating patients with new coronary pneumonia but also in the treatment of other serious coronavirus infections.
Compared with other potential treatments that must be given intravenously, EIDD-2801 can be taken orally as a pill.
In addition, EIDD-1931 has a better effect on Remdesivir mutant red coronavirus and vice versa. This shows that these two drugs can be used in combination to improve the efficacy, thereby preventing the emergence of drug resistance.
The researchers pointed out that a clinical study of EIDD-2801 in the human body will soon be conducted.
If successful, this drug can not only be used to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, but also to control the outbreak of other new coronaviruses in the future.
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