Possible coronavirus drug identified by Australian scientists

[denem]

Last edited Fri Apr 3, 2020, 11:04 PM - Edit history (1)

Possible coronavirus drug identified by Australian scientists

Australian Scientists have shown that an anti-parasitic drug already available around the world can kill the virus within 48 hours.

Scientists from Monash University in Melbourne showed that a single dose of the drug, Ivermectin, could stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus growing in cell culture - effectively eradicating all genetic material of the virus within 48 hours.

The next steps are to determine the correct human dosage - ensuring the doses shown to effectively treat the virus in the test tube are safe levels for humans...

Ivermectin is an FDA-approved anti-parasitic drug that has also been shown to be effective in vitro against a broad range of viruses including HIV, Dengue, Influenza and Zika virus.

The findings of the study were published today in Antiviral Research.

A collaborative study led by Monash University's Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) in Melbourne, Australia, with the Peter Doherty Institute of Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute), has shown that an anti-parasitic drug already available around the world kills the virus within 48 hours.

The Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute's Dr Kylie Wagstaff, who led the study, said the scientists showed that the drug, Ivermectin, stopped the SARS-CoV-2 virus growing in cell culture within 48 hours.

"We found that even a single dose could essentially remove all viral RNA by 48 hours and that even at 24 hours there was a really significant reduction in it," Dr Wagstaff said.

Ivermectin is an FDA-approved anti-parasitic drug that has also been shown to be effective in vitro against a broad range of viruses including HIV, Dengue, Influenza and Zika virus....

"Ivermectin is very widely used and seen as a safe drug. We need to figure out now whether the dosage you can use it at in humans will be effective - that's the next step," Dr Wagstaff said.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/mu-pcd040320.php
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166354220302011

Ivermectin: enigmatic multifaceted ‘wonder’ drug continues to surprise and exceed expectations
https://www.nature.com/articles/ja201711.pdf

Ivermectin has also been demonstrated to be a potent broad-spectrum specific inhibitor of importin ?/?-mediated nuclear trans- port and demonstrates antiviral activity against several RNA viruses by blocking the nuclear trafficking of viral proteins. It has been shown to have potent antiviral action against HIV-1 and dengue viruses, both of which are dependent on the importin protein superfamily for several key cellular processes.

[Drahthaardogs]

1. And...your flea and tick problem is SOLVED!

I'll believe it when I see it

[Disaffected]

3. And, it's also great for

treating mange (I had to have it administered to one of my dogs).

I did a double take when I read this - seems weird.

[denem]

7. Ivermectin's antiviral properties are well established.

The question is whether it is effective against SARA-CoV-2, at tolerable doses.

[Drahthaardogs]

8. All kinds of stuff works in-vitro

In- vivo none of it works, mostly because the doses required to be effective would be toxic

[ToxMarz]

11. Yep, Clorox would work in-vitro

Perhaps not as elegantly

[Thekaspervote]

15. Could we give some credit to the researchers PLEASE!! Stop bashing

[ToxMarz]

44. No one is bashing researchers

Rather the reporting and publics exuberant embrace of every unproven experimental treatment. Good for the researchers. Now cue Alex Jones and every other scam artist to start hoarding and selling flea medicine to people (just as they were touting bleach as a cure, seriously).

[denem]

13. "In- vivo none of it works"

A rather comprehensive statement don't you think? Anti-virals trials begin with in vitro testing.

[Drahthaardogs]

18. Actually rather true

The number of compoubds that successfully provide both safety and effectiveness in-vivo compared to in-vitro is miniscule.

[DENVERPOPS]

24. I couldn't agree more

Every scientist and Big Pharma company in the world are all fighting tooth and nail to try to get "their" product to market. Not for the sake of humanity, but for the purpose of getting the MASSIVE fortune their drug would command.

They will do anything, to make that happen. Screw with "test" results, change facts, alter the normal drug trials,......anything.....

[LonePirate]

2. Medical researchers are doing amazing work now. May these discoveries continue.

[SheltieLover]

27. What you said!

👆

If it works, will we be taking monthly wormer along with fur kids? 🤣

[jeffreyi]

4. Just ask my horse.

She gets a periodic dose of Ivermectin for worms. And she doesn't have coronavirus! I have a few tubes, maybe I should put them on eBay for $1000 each.

I hope this works. Would be great.

[Jarqui]

10. How long before the reports of people poisoning themselves

with that stuff ...

[Initech]

21. 3... 2... 1...

[Yavin4]

37. Can we get Sean Hannity to promote....No...No..No

Bad Yavin!! Shame on you!!!

[jeffreyi]

42. Yes, seems like it could be quite toxic.

It can be hard on horses, anyway.

[larwdem]

12. yes

well known horse worm treatment one tube every three months.

[jeffreyi]

43. My rancher neighbor

Told me that the local vet said he could administer left over horse ivermectin to his dog. So I guess a bonus if we all wind up taking it, is that we won't have worms anymore, either!

[cilla4progress]

32. I'm wondering about taking a lick off

the 3 tubes I have to worm my horses this spring?!

[snort]

33. Are the dosages measured by the weight of the animal?

[cilla4progress]

34. Yes

they are!

[snort]

35. Hmmm

[cilla4progress]

36. My husband says to be concerned about

the other ingredients.

[snort]

38. Smart.

It is a common drug for humans. For me, if I felt this thing coming on and the hospitals were packed, I might estimate the quantity cut that in half and then risk it. Fighting chance and all that. Usual adult dose according to the tubes is 0.2mg once maybe a 2nd dose after 2 weeks depending on the parasite. Sounds like some really powerful shit.

What's the dosage for a horse?

[cilla4progress]

41. I'll get back to you

On that.

[crickets]

5. Fingers crossed. nt

[eppur_se_muova]

6. How odd--the usual mechanism of action is specific to invertebrate cells. How does it affect virus ?

I'll be interested to see NNadir's comments on this.

Ivermectin is a macrocyclic lactone with some very "sugary"-looking side chains. Perhaps these compete with the cellular membrane-bound receptors for binding to the virus.

So what would lead scientists to investigate this drug for activity against a virus ? Well, it's cheap, widely used, and pretty harmless towards humans, so why not test it on everything ?

Ivermectin was discovered in 1975 and came into medical use in 1981.[7][8] It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system.[9] The wholesale cost in the developing world for the tablets is about US$0.12 for a course of treatment.[10] In the United States, the costs is less than US$50.[11][12] In other animals it is used to prevent and treat heartworm among other diseases.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivermectin

[Sunriser13]

9. I can't help but fixate on these points.

Last edited Sat Apr 4, 2020, 02:02 AM - Edit history (1)

[9] The wholesale cost in the developing world for the tablets is about US$0.12 for a course of treatment.

[10] In the United States, the costs is less than US$50.

$0.12 vs $50.00

Damn shame. If the treatment does indeed pan out, expect US prices to skyrocket...

[Wednesdays]

14. It's the American way!

[Initech]

23. 'Murika!!!!

[Duppers]

17. Wow!

[intrepidity]

19. Typically, as many approved drugs as possible will go through an initial screen assay

Such as a cell culture model, just to discover if any current drugs will have any effect on a new threat (virus, whatever). I imagine that's what happened here.

That is, I doubt there was anything mechanistically that predicted ivermectin may be active against c19. But, just a guess.

ETA: lol, no, not so. See below. Turns out there was good reason to test it.

Ivermectin is an FDA-approved broad spectrum anti-parasitic agent1 that in recent years we, along with other groups, have shown to have anti-viral activity against a broad range of viruses2, 3, 4, 5 in vitro. Originally identified as an inhibitor of interaction between the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) integrase protein (IN) and the importin (IMP) ?/?1 heterodimer responsible for IN nuclear import6, Ivermectin has since been confirmed to inhibit IN nuclear import and HIV-1 replication5. Other actions of ivermectin have been reported7, but ivermectin has been shown to inhibit nuclear import of host (eg.8,9) and viral proteins, including simian virus SV40 large tumour antigen (T-ag) and dengue virus (DENV) non-structural protein 55, 6. Importantly, it has been demonstrated to limit infection by RNA viruses such as DENV 1-44, West Nile Virus10, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV)3 and influenza2, with this broad spectrum activity believed to be due to the reliance by many different RNA viruses on IMP?/?1 during infection11,12. Ivermectin has similarly been shown to be effective against the DNA virus pseudorabies virus (PRV) both in vitro and in vivo, with ivermectin treatment shown to increase survival in PRV-infected mice13. Efficacy was not observed for ivermectin against Zika virus (ZIKV) in mice, but the authors acknowledged that study limitations justified re-evaluation of ivermectin’s anti-ZIKV activity14. Finally, ivermectin was the focus of a phase III clinical trial in Thailand in 2014-2017, against DENV infection, in which a single daily oral dose was observed to be safe and resulted in a significant reduction in serum levels of viral NS1 protein, but no change in viremia or clinical benefit was observed (see below)15.

[eppur_se_muova]

25. Thanks, looks like the Wikipedia entry needs expansion. nt

[Sunriser13]

26. It does look interesting.

"Importantly, it has been demonstrated to limit infection by RNA viruses such as DENV 1-44, West Nile Virus10, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV)3 and influenza2, with this broad spectrum activity believed to be due to the reliance by many different RNA viruses on IMP?/?1 during infection." (Bolding mine.)

Wasn't one of the difficulties of finding antiviral treatment for Covid-19 the fact that it is an RNA virus vs a DNA virus?

I don't know - it would be wonderful if this establishes the base for treatment or cure.

In the meantime, I guess the cats wont be getting their flea squirts this month...

[SheltieLover]

29. 🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞

lol cats!

[sprinkleeninow]

39. I could part my hair and apply

Revolution ™.

JK. 🐶

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

16. Whether or not this is the cure,

I'm in awe of the rapid research being done.

[Initech]

22. The sooner this wretched virus is eradicated and gone the better!

I salute those who are doing the research!

[SheltieLover]

28. Me too! 😍

GO SCIENCE! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[Aristus]

20. Fever is one of the potential side effects, so if this is adopted for broad-range treatment

I hope people don't panic after taking it.

Rapid heart rate and dizziness are also potential side effects, so they may feel like they're panicking.

[SheltieLover]

30. In some (empty) minds, this should do the trick 👇

[link:https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/03/business/corona-beer-production/index.html|

Corona beer stops production

🤣🤣🤣

Many here actually believe it comes from this beer! 😳🤯

I am really excited to hear this antiparasitic is a possibility! Keeping 🤞🤞🤞!

[cilla4progress]

31. Horse wormer!

I have 3 tubes!

[Nac Mac Feegle]

40. It might actually work, but don't get too excited too quickly

Like with the Chloroquinine, it could be a dead end.

https://xkcd.com/1217/