Leonardo Cendamo via Getty Images
–
“Monoclonal antibodies represent hope in the cure of Covid, but, even if we want to be optimistic, we will not have any available before the summer. For now we can not be counted “: these are the words of Silvio Garattini, pharmacologist and founder ofMario Negri Pharmacological Research Institute from Milan. At HuffPost, the professor takes stock of the situation of drugs currently available for the treatment of Sars-CoV-2: “Plasma, Remdesivir, Tocilizumab, none of these drugs have been shown to be effective. At the moment – he explains – there is no resolutive therapy against the coronavirus and it is unlikely that we will have it in the coming months. There is a strong commitment from researchers around the world, but the road is long. It is true that we must not be discouraged: what happened to AIDS could happen, for which we have no vaccines or antibodies, but drugs that have made it possible to cure the disease ”.
According to theMom, the first monoclonal antibodies for Covid-19 therapy could be available in Europe before the summer, “between May and June”: this is the estimate of Marco Cavaleri, head of Vaccines and Covid Therapeutic Products of the European Medicines Agency. “Monoclonal antibodies – he explains – are interesting products that we are evaluating”, but “for a marketing approval, even conditional, we need a quantity of sufficient data that solidly demonstrate an effective benefit. The preliminary clinical data viewed, in some published cases, show that these drugs potentially have a beneficial effect in preventing the deterioration of the disease, especially in subjects more at risk of severe Covid “. “It will take a few more months for us to authorize it – specifies the expert – Everything will depend on when at least the initial data of the larger clinical trials, which are in progress, will be available. So we can assume that maybe between May and June it will be possible to have the first of these drugs, if everything goes smoothly “.
We therefore have to wait a little longer before we can start administering monoclonal antibodies to Covid patients. But how do they work? Garattini explains it to us, in simple words: “These are proteins that have a specific target, in this case they have the ability to bind to a part of the virus, the one called ‘protein S’ or Spike. The monoclonal antibody is capable of binding to one of the S proteins and thus prevents the virus from entering the cells. If the virus does not enter the cells it will not even reproduce ”. The effects are being examined by researchers: “Monoclonal antibodies do not prevent infection, but act by mitigating the disease – adds the pharmacologist -. Hopefully they are able to avoid intensive care. For now, we know that they act on viral concentration “.
The ferment of the scientific community around monoclonal antibodies is strong: there is already one approved by the FDA, and Italy is also pursuing research with antibodies to Stairs. “Science is proceeding quickly but the process is not short because we have to go through experimentation – explains Garattini -. We need to understand what are the benefits in relation to the risks, what are the tolerability, what are the long-term effects. Before administering the drug to a large number of people we must be sure that it is not harmful ”.
What about the other drugs instead? On the Aifa website it is possible to consult all drugs that can be used for Covid-19 therapy. The professor gives an overview: “The Remdesivir, much discussed antiviral, approved by the FDA, has not brought significant results, it seems to be able to reduce hospitalization, but only by a few days. Often there has been talk of tocilizumab e sarilumab, two drugs used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, but even in this case there are no relevant data: it is known, instead, that they are drugs that must be used in hospital and in severe cases, given the strong side effects they have. Also with regard to col plasma of patients who have contracted Covid, the real effectiveness has not been demonstrated while the side effects are known and are not mild “.
But how is the disease treated at home today? “The advice that today is given to those who contract Covid is first of all that of not going out and taking anti-inflammatory drugs and paracetamol, those normally used for the treatment of the flu. Cortisones are instead indicated in case of advanced disease. Even the administration of heparin it can have advantages because it has been shown to avoid the problem of thrombosis, which can also affect the lungs. In general, however, an effective therapy will have to wait: it is not certain that what you are looking for is easy to find, but science and medicine are moving to find it and make it available to as many people as possible “.
–
