Status: 16.12.2021 11:42 a.m.
Researchers around the world are looking for an effective drug against Covid-19. Taken like a headache tablet, they are supposed to protect against a serious illness at an early stage. What is the current state of research?
The picture that a British doctor shared on Twitter in November went around the world. On the white hospital table, sorted by preparation, are all the drugs that a corona patient is given every day in the intensive care unit: Paracetamol for pain, propofol and midazolam for sedation, cardiovascular drugs, artificial nutrition and for Relaxation of the muscles. A drug cocktail designed to keep patients alive. “On average, we give 15 different medications a day in the intensive care unit, many of them at the same time,” reports Stefan Kluge, Director of the Clinic for Intensive Care Medicine at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.
The intensive care doctor, who has also worked on guidelines for the treatment of corona patients, is still waiting for the saving drug that will restore seriously ill Covid patients to health. Because most drugs so far only alleviate the symptoms of the disease or make the stay in the intensive care unit bearable. “In 0.6 percent of Covid-19 patients, pneumonia is developing so severe that you have to be treated in an intensive care unit,” said intensive care doctor Kluge in an interview tagesschau.de. But none of the drugs “conjure up” these lungs healthy. The drugs used today would reduce mortality by three to four percent each. That is a little help, but not a breakthrough, so Kluge.
Focus on antivirals
The hope for a miracle cure against Covid-19 drives researchers around the world. According to the US association BIO, more than 600 different drugs are currently being tested that are supposed to help against Covid-19. The focus is particularly on antivirals, which prevent the virus from penetrating body cells. “The most popular strategy to achieve this is to take the best antibodies from healthy people and reproduce them in the laboratory,” explains Rolf Hömke from the Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (vfa). Some of these antibodies are already being used to treat corona patients. The problem: They mainly help at an early stage of the infection. Once in hospital, the virus has been around for several days. In time it can multiply vigorously.
Medicines such as remdesivir, however, work in the cell and try to prevent the virus from multiplying. The approach of the manufacturer Gilead Sciences was considered promising at the beginning of the pandemic in summer 2020. In the meantime, medical societies advise against the use in ventilated patients, since no effectiveness of therapy with Remdesivir can be derived.
Two new preparations in tablet form
The manufacturers MSD and Pfizer are now promoting two new antiviral agents with great effectiveness. Pfizer’s drug Paxlovid is said to reduce the risk of hospitalization due to a corona infection by 89 percent. Molnupiravir from MSD by as much as 30 percent. The drug has been approved in the UK since early November.
The special thing about it: Molnupiravir and paxlovid are – unlike previous drugs – not administered as an infusion, but in tablet form. “The advantage is that the medication can be taken as a tablet at home early on,” says intensive care physician Kluge, describing the hopes associated with the new developments. So far, both preparations have not been approved in the EU. When the time comes, Germany also wants to rely on the drugs. Upon request from tagesschau.de It is said by the Federal Ministry of Health: The Ministry is in negotiations with the companies to secure contingents for Germany and to make them available for supply in a timely manner.
Vaccinations remain the most important protection
How big the impact these drugs will have on the pandemic is still unclear. However, it will probably not make vaccinations unnecessary, says Rolf Hömke from the Association of Research-Based Drug Manufacturers: “These drugs do not make the disease go away quickly. Even if the infected do not have to go to hospital or intensive care, they can still be quite ill will.” On the other hand, only to be vaccinated helps, so the vfa spokesman.
Intensive care physician Kluge does not place too high hopes on the two new developments either: neither are “game changers”. The effects of the drugs are not as tangible as those of a vaccination. “The main focus should be on the vaccination campaign.”