Infection chief Marius Trøseid at Oslo University Hospital tells Dagbladet that they across Europe and at eleven Norwegian hospitals will investigate whether the drug baricitinib can prevent deaths among people with severe covid-19 disease.
At the same time, the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, Merk & Co and Roche Holding are competing to develop drugs that can be given early in the course of the disease to prevent serious covid-19 disease.
Common to these drugs is that they are given as tablets.
– There is intense research going on to develop tablets, and to that extent also medicines that can be given intravenously, which can counteract the development of covid-19. There are many drugs that have already received temporary approval or emergency approval for treatment against covid-19, says medical director Steinar Madsen to Dagbladet.
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Explains the difference
News agency Reuters writes that Merk & Co has already initiated studies of its candidate molnupiravir, while Pfizer hopes to initiate studies of its candidate during the summer. Both drug companies inform Reuters that they hope that the drugs can be approved for the treatment of covid-19 by the end of 2021.
Chief physician Trøseid says that OUS is now leading a study of baricitinib that will take place all over Europe. He explains to Dagbladet what the difference is between molnupiravir and baricitinib.
– Our first task is to test the drug baricitinib, which is a tablet that is actually used for arthritis. We are testing whether more seriously ill people with covid-19 will survive if they receive this drug for 14 days. In severe covid-19 disease, we see that a very strong immune reaction against the virus contributes to a severe pneumonia, and this drug has a good immunosuppressive effect.
Trøseid says that it has been speculated whether baricitinib, like molnupiravir, has an antiviral effect, but that no conclusion has been reached on this issue yet.
– Molnupiravir is an antiviral medicine. So far we have seen that most antiviral drugs have had an effect against covid-19 if they are given very early in the course of the disease, so early that the patients have not been admitted to hospital yet. Thus, molnupiravir may be a topical drug for high-risk patients who for various reasons cannot be vaccinated, says Trøseid and continues:
– But if you become so ill that you have to be admitted with covid-19, then baricitinib seems to be a much more relevant drug. This is what we are going to investigate in the study.
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– Exciting
Medical director Madsen thinks that the research related to the antiviral drugs against covid-19 is very exciting.
– It is clear that this is very exciting research. We know that they have managed to make very effective drugs against some viral diseases. Perhaps the best example is drugs against the hepatitis C virus, which are so effective that they cure patients with one tablet regimen. We hope that you will be able to develop antiviral drugs for covid-19 disease as well. We have not reached that point today, but it will be very exciting to see how this develops in the future, says Madsen and adds:
– Vaccination against covid-19 is the most important thing, but it is clear that drugs that can prevent infection or prevent serious illness can be a useful supplement to vaccination.
When can you get vaccinated?
The pace of vaccination is different around the country. Check your municipality’s website for updated status. No data in the test is sent to Dagbladet.– —
All of Europe
OUS chief physician Trøseid explains that the study of baricitinib has already been initiated at Norwegian hospitals.
– This is a study that will take place all over Europe and is led by OUS. We have initiated the study at five different Norwegian hospitals this week: Ullevål, Tromsø, Tønsberg, St. Olavs and Stavanger, and a total of eleven Norwegian hospitals will participate, he says and continues:
– Furthermore, we plan that the study will be launched in France next week and in Ireland within two to three weeks. We then hope that the study can be implemented in Spain and Belgium at the turn of the month June / July. A total of 15 countries will participate in this platform study.
Next pandemic
The study is part of a platform study, which is designed to be able to test many different drugs. Trøseid believes that this helps to prepare Europe for the next pandemic.
– It is a platform study that is made to be able to test many different drugs. When the pandemic started, we saw that there was not enough structure in Europe to do effective research on covid-19 drugs. For example, it took a long time to find out that malaria drugs were not suitable for the treatment of covid-19 disease, says Trøseid and concludes:
– When the next pandemic comes, it is important that we have a system in place so that we can test drugs effectively and coordinated throughout Europe.
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