By Robbert van der Linde
15 dec 2023 om 05:17
A promising medicine may soon be able to protect vulnerable people against serious illness after a corona infection. The drug bemnifosbuvir has yet to be approved. But the researchers are hopeful, research leader Marc Bonten tells NU.nl.
In brief
- The drug bemnifosbuvir can protect vulnerable people against serious illness after a corona infection, but has yet to be approved.
- The drug passed the first test phases well and is now being tested on a group of thousands of people.
- Although the drug is mainly intended to protect vulnerable groups, it may also help people without underlying conditions.
Summary made using AI.
The pills are intended to prevent people with a weakened immune system from becoming seriously ill due to corona. This reduces the chance that they will end up in hospital or even die after an infection.
An increased risk applies, among others, to the elderly and people who have just undergone an organ transplant. Patients with Parkinson’s disease, Down syndrome, HIV, diabetes and cancer are also extra vulnerable to viruses.
A lot of attention was paid to protecting this vulnerable group during the corona pandemic. But that attention has since waned within society, says Bonten. He is director of the medical research network Ecraid and a physician-microbiologist at the UMC Utrecht. Both organizations are conducting the global investigation together with 330 other agencies.
“The pandemic is over, but corona is not gone,” says Bonten. “New medicines are still needed to prevent suffering and higher healthcare costs. It would help a lot if there was a pill for the first complaints.”
There are already medicines available that can inhibit corona disease. But they are relatively expensive and often dangerous in combination with other medications that vulnerable people take. “Paracetamol can be combined with everything, but many other medications can cause unpleasant side effects when combined,” says Bonten. The new medicine should be easier to combine with other medicines.
Marc Bonten was involved in the establishment of a research center in 2021 to prevent a future pandemic. Photo: ANP
Test phases are hopeful
The drug passed the first test phases well. The medicine watchdogs in the United States (FDA) and Europe (EMA) have given permission for phase 3. In which the drug is tested on a group of thousands of people. It is checked whether the product is safe and works as it should.
“Everything that enters phase 3 has potential. And if it passes phase 3 well, it is a safe and good medicine. We can only say that once it has been fully investigated. But the preliminary results are hopeful. It is a huge investment , then as a manufacturer you must really believe in your medicine,” says Bonten.
The medicine may also be able to help people without underlying conditions with complaints. It is not being investigated whether the medicine also works against post-covid complaints. But Bonten emphasizes that medicines are often used for other things than what they were tested for.
“If you want to say that the drug prevents hospital admissions and deaths, you have to demonstrate this. But when the drug becomes available, you will see that it will also be used for other groups. We actually see this with all medicines, especially those against infections.”
‘Research into medicines must continue’
To ultimately bring the drug onto the market, permission is again required from the medicine watchdogs. That will certainly take months and possibly years. In any case, research into medicines must continue, Bonten believes.
“This virus will continue to infect us. This is usually mild, in any case not as serious as during the pandemic. But it remains a risk for people with vulnerable health.”
Bonten and his research partners are therefore calling on as many people as possible to participate with the research. “It is different from during the pandemic. Back then people were queuing up to participate, but that is difficult now. This can lead to a good medicine, but it must be properly researched.”
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2023-12-15 04:17:50
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