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RICHMOND, Virginia – Days after Pfizer announced it was testing an antiviral pill to treat COVID-19, a University of Virginia professor said that, if effective, the drug could “pop out the teeth of all this terrible pandemic “.
At the University of Virginia, clinical trials are underway to study COVID-19.
“All of us in infectious diseases, that’s what we’ve trained our whole careers to do, is to respond to that,” said Dr. Bill Petri, professor of infectious diseases.
Petri said that from now on, some people who end up in hospital with the virus are given an antiviral to treat it.
“We have a drug, Ritonavir, which Patrick Jackson at UVA was part of a study that showed that this antiviral Ritonavir works to treat the virus, but you have to give it through the veins. And so, it’s really only for hospital patients, ”says Petri.
Scientists are striving to go further. On Monday, Pfizer announced that it was testing an antiviral pill that could be taken soon after becoming infected.
“If the pill works as expected, then when you have the first symptoms of COVID-19 you take it, that’s twice a day for five days. And that would prevent you from going to the hospital,” said Petri.
He said it could also help prevent further spread.
“You probably wouldn’t be contagious for that long,” Petri said. “Because if the drug works, which of course we don’t know if it works, but if it does, it stops the production of new viruses. And so, it will reduce the number of viruses you get. ‘re expiring when you speak and make you less contagious, and probably the entire infectiousness period will be shortened as a result. “
Petri said the drug would act as a protease inhibitor, preventing a virus from taking the long protein it makes and breaking it into small pieces.
“For HIV, it was a lifeline,” said Petri. “And then even more recently, with the hepatitis C virus, hepatitis C went from an incurable cause of liver damage to full treatment now to cure with a pill.”
“We have a very good track record of HIV and HCV drugs, where protease inhibitors have turned the tide. So it’s very encouraging for me to see that Pfizer has started this clinical trial,” he said. he adds.
With COVID-related hospitalizations on the rise in the state, Dr Jake O’Shea, chief medical officer of HCA Virginia, said that if effective, an oral antiviral for COVID could potentially serve as an additional tool. doctors to treat the virus.
But he said it was still too early for doctors to prepare for the possibility.
“Right now our main focus is to take care of the sick people we have in our hospitals and get as many people vaccinated as possible,” O’Shea said. “We just have to see what data comes out, comes out of clinical trials, which will be very valuable.”
O’Shea said he also hopes the possibility of treatment won’t deter people from focusing on the most effective tool, already available.
“It’s a real risk. But I hope that as we continue to see evidence that vaccination is both safe and effective, more and more people will continue to be vaccinated, regardless of the availability. antiviral drugs, ”O’Shea said.
Petri said the planned completion of Pfizer’s trial was Nov. 21 and predicted that the results would be available by the end of the year.
After that, he said Pfizer would have to go through the same emergency use authorization process that was followed for the vaccine, and that the FDA would weigh in on the efficacy and use.
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