Fighting the coronavirus with drugs we already know? That's the promise of Professor Isaiah Arkin of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. According to his research, three drugs used to cure other diseases are extremely effective against the virus.
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Research by trial and error
During an interview with the The Times of Israel, Dr. Arkin expressed his optimism in his latest discovery. The professor carried out experiments testing out 3,000 existing drugs in which he and his team put virus cells in contact with human cells in vitro and observed the reaction with the drugs.
As it turns out, three of the drugs used during the experiment were successful in the treatment of the coronavirus. According to him:
the three that stood out showed they can protect with close to 100 percent efficacy, which means that 100 percent of the cells survived despite infection with the virus.
The drugs in question are Darapladib (used to treat atherosclerosis), Flumatinib (used to fight cancer), and another unnamed drug that is used to contain HIV. The good thing about a drug that is already on the market is that their side effects are already known.
'We have the vaccine, but we must not rest on our laurels'
Certainly, the results announced by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem are encouraging, but that doesn't mean that these drugs will be used to fight COVID-19 right away. For the time being, the pre-existing medication will undergo thorough laboratory testing before it can be officially approved.
Even so, the research offers some hope that these drugs could become further ammunition in the fight against COVID-19. Professor Arkin explained that:
We have the vaccine, but we must not rest on our laurels, and I would like these drugs to be part of the arsenal we use to fight the Coronavirus.
