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An inhaled form of interferon – a drug commonly used to treat multiple sclerosis by injection – may help prevent hospital patients with Covid-19 from getting worse, according to a UK drug maker.
The results were first published in July, but were published Thursday as a peer-reviewed study in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
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The body naturally releases interferon when it is confronted with any invader, such as a virus or other pathogen. As the name suggests, it works by interfering with viral replication. Some researchers have suggested that patients with Covid-19 tend to be deficient in interferon, especially in their blood and lungs.
In theory, increasing the levels of interferon in the body would help patients fight diseases such as Covid-19.
Indeed, a study published in May suggested that the coronavirus tended to inhibit the body’s natural response to interferon.
A previous trial, called Solidarity, found that an infusion of the drug did nothing to reduce deaths from Covid-19 or help patients recover faster.
The new study from Synairgen, a UK-based pharmaceutical company, used a type of inhaled interferon called interferon beta-1a (SNG001). In this case, the drug is administered directly into the respiratory tract.
The study was small, comprising only 98 patients, who were ill last spring. About half received the actual medication each day for up to two weeks. The rest received a placebo. The researchers followed their progress for a month.
The study authors wrote that the interferon group “had a greater chance of improvement and recovered faster from SARS-CoV-2 infection than patients given a placebo.” SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes Covid-19.
Those who received the drug were twice as likely to improve by day 15 or 16.
Interferon “may have the potential as an inhaled drug to restore the lung’s immune response and accelerate recovery from Covid-19,” wrote study author Tom Wilkinson of the University of Southampton in the UK. United in a press release. In other words, the drug may work better if it is given directly into the lungs, rather than through the bloodstream.
“If I give you an injection of interferon and you get a tiny amount of it in your lungs, it’s like I haven’t given you anything. intensive care units for Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital at North Shore University Hospital, part of Northwell Health, Long Island, New York. Cassiere was not involved in studies with inhaled interferon.
But, he added, when you put this drug into a form that can be inhaled, “and you get a direct deposit in the lung tissue, you can get very high levels of the drug. If the drug works, you expect that to be an advantage. “
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The researchers warn the study was too small to make definitive claims about the potential benefits of inhaled interferon, or to detect any potential side effects. Inhaled forms of interferon are not approved in the United States
In intravenous or injectable form, interferon can cause flu-like symptoms, joint pain and fever.
In a commentary accompanying the study, Nathan Peiffer-Smadja of Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris, France, stressed that the timing of the administration of interferon could be crucial. Immune responses may be beneficial early in the disease, but could also exacerbate disease later.
It is clear that a hyper-inflammatory response in some Covid-19 patients is detrimental, described as a “cytokine storm”. This is because interferon is a cytokine. Peiffer-Smadja, who was not involved in the new study, wrote that there is a need “to investigate whether there is an impact of interferon beta-1a on prolonged symptoms, especially pulmonary.”
If the results are confirmed in larger trials, the drug could offer a major benefit amid an uncontrolled pandemic that overwhelms hospitals across the country.
Researchers are currently testing inhaled interferon in Covid-19 people who are not sick enough to be hospitalized.
“If this preliminary data holds,” Cassiere said, “then this therapy may reduce patients with more advanced disease and end up in my intensive care unit.”
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