LONDON (Reuters) – A single-patient study by British scientists found that the guillotine antiviral drug Remedy was more effective against COVID-19, raising questions about previous studies showing that it had no effect on mortality from the disease.
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, found that physicians who administered medication to a patient with both COVID-19 and a rare immune disorder showed significant improvement in his symptoms and the disappearance of the virus.
“Our patient’s abnormal condition gave us a rare insight into the effectiveness of the remedy as a treatment for coronavirus infection,” said Nicholas Matheson, co-chair of the study Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the University of Cambridge.
“The dramatic response to the drug – in the ongoing challenge – could be the most effective treatment, at least for some patients.”
Remedicivir, which was developed to treat hepatitis C from the very beginning of the corona virus infection and was later tested against Ebola, is believed to be effective against COVID-19.
The effectiveness of anti-infective drugs has been hotly debated since a major World Health Organization-led trial in October that COVID-19 failed to improve survival rates.
An editorial in the influential New England Journal of Medicine earlier this month cited issues of the WHO-led unity test, saying they did not rule out other tests that proved the benefits of the drug.
“There have been various studies that support or question the effectiveness of Remediesiver, but some of those conducted during the first waves of infection may not be optimal for evaluating its antiviral properties,” said James Devendron of Cambridge.
To address it, a 31-year-old man became seriously ill with COVID-19 and had a rare genetic condition called XLA, which affects the body’s ability to make antibodies to fight infection.
For more than 2 months, the man was first treated with hydroxy chloroquine and azithromycin, which had little effect, and then he was given two separate treatments with Remdecivir, the doctors wrote.
The patient’s virus level dropped and his symptoms improved during his first Remedivir course, they said. When his viral levels and symptoms increased again after the first Remedivir course, the second treatment was even more effective, and on day 64, he no longer tested positive for COVID-19.
“All of this suggests that individual patients should be treated, depending on their underlying condition,” said Matthew Buckland, a physician at London’s Parts Medical Immunology.
Report by Kate Kelland, editing by Louis Heavens