Since the novel virus that causes COVID-19 was first identified in Wuhan, China, last year, drug companies such as Gilead, AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and more have been racing to test the effectiveness of certain medications in treating the disease that in severe cases resembles viral pneumonia. Among those medications are protease inhibitors, which are normally used by HIV patients.
While no drugs or vaccines are approved specifically to treat the new virus, there is promising news from Spain. According to the newspaper El País, patient Miguel Ángel Benítez (62) was successfully treated for COVID-19 with the protease inhibitor Kaletra—technically lopinavir/ritonavir. Also administered with this drug was an interferon beta that can help to reduce inflammation and other sometimes problematic aspects of immune system response.
“It’s an experimental usage of the drug that has given good results with other viruses,” Albert Bosch, President of the Spanish Virology Society, told the paper. “One of the biggest advantages is that they are already approved for use, so there is little doubt about their safety.”
“The results we have so far for the use of these drugs to treat coronavirus give us hope,” said Santiago Moreno, Head of Infectious Diseases at Ramón y Cajal Hospital in Madrid.
Protease inhibitors are powerful potential tools in fighting off numerous diseases because they can block a key enzyme that helps viruses to duplicate. In addition to treating HIV/AIDS, they are widely used to treat hepatitis C. Researchers are even exploring if they can be used to treat cancer. The protease inhibitors nelfinavir and atazanavir, for example, have been shown to kill tumor cells in culture, but the effect has not been observed yet in humans.
It is important to note that when many donations are made to fight HIV/AIDS, they have the secondary power of potentially helping to eradicate other diseases, too. Time will tell what treatment(s) emerges as the most effective against COVID-19, but if the promising results from Spain are replicated elsewhere, there is a good chance that the LGBTQ community’s dedicated effort to end the threat of HIV/AIDS will help to lead the way.
Published on March 12, 2020
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