Summary: An FDA-approved anti-parasitic drug called Ivermectin appears to inhibit and eliminate SARS-CoV-2 in lab-grown cell cultures within 48 hours. Ivermectin shows promise as potential COVID-19 therapy. However, researchers stress the need for further testing and clinical trials in humans to confirm the effectiveness of the drug and appropriate dosage levels.
Source: Monash University
Monash scientists have shown that an anti-parasitic drug already available around the world can kill the virus within 48 hours.
Scientists from the Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) showed that a single dose of the drug, Ivermectin, could stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus growing in cell culture.
This Monash University-led collaborative study was published in Antiviral Research, a peer-reviewed medical journal Antiviral Research.
Whilst shown to be effective in the lab environment, Ivermectin cannot be used in humans for COVID-19 until further testing and clinical trials have been completed to confirm the effectiveness of the drug at levels safe for human dosing. The potential use of Ivermectin to combat COVID-19 remains unproven, and depends on funding to progress the work into the next stages.
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About this COVID-19 research article
Source:
Monash University
Media Contacts:
Tania Ewing – Monash University
Image Source:
The image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Open access
“The FDA-approved Drug Ivermectin inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro”. Leon Caly, Julian D. Druce, Mike G. Catton, David A. Jans, Kylie M. Wagstaff.
Antiviral Research doi:10.1016/j.antiviral.2020.104787.
Abstract
The FDA-approved Drug Ivermectin inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro
Although several clinical trials are now underway to test possible therapies, the worldwide response to the COVID-19 outbreak has been largely limited to monitoring/containment. We report here that Ivermectin, an FDA-approved anti-parasitic previously shown to have broad-spectrum anti-viral activity in vitro, is an inhibitor of the causative virus (SARS-CoV-2), with a single addition to Vero-hSLAM cells 2 hours post infection with SARS-CoV-2 able to effect ∼5000-fold reduction in viral RNA at 48 h. Ivermectin therefore warrants further investigation for possible benefits in humans.
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