[D66] Geneesmiddel tegen Covid-19 gevonden (Wuhan Coronavirus 2019-nCoV #541)

[Dr. Marc-Alexander Fluks]

Bron:  Times of Israel
Datum: 5 februari 2021
URL:   
https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-israeli-drug-cured-moderate-to-serious-covid-cases-within-days-hospital/


New Israeli drug cured 29 of 30 moderate/serious COVID cases in days
- hospital Medicine developed at Ichilov moderates immune response,
helps prevent deadly cytokine storm, researchers say; 29 of 30 phase
1 trial patients left hospital within 3-5 days
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A new coronavirus treatment being developed at Tel Aviv's Ichilov 
Medical Center has successfully completed phase 1 trials and appears to 
have helped numerous moderate-to-serious cases of COVID-19 quickly 
recover from the disease, the hospital said Friday.

Hailing a 'huge breakthrough,' the hospital said Prof. Nadir Arber's 
EXO-CD24 substance had been administered to 30 patients whose conditions 
were moderate or worse, and all 30 recovered - 29 of them within three 
to five days.

The medicine fights the cytokine storm - a potentially lethal immune 
overreaction to the coronavirus infection that is believed to be 
responsible for much of the deaths associated with the disease. It uses 
exosomes - tiny carrier sacs that shuttle materials between cells - to 
deliver a protein called CD24 to the lungs, which Arber has spent 
decades researching. 'This protein is located on the surface of cells 
and has a well known and important role in regulating the immune 
system,' said researcher Shiran Shapira of Arber's lab. The protein 
helps calm down the immune system and curb the storm.

'The preparation is inhaled once a day for a few minutes, for five 
days,' Arber said. 'The preparation is directed straight to the heart of 
the storm - the lungs - so unlike other formulas... which selectively 
restrain a certain cytokine, or operate widely but cause many serious 
side effects, EXO-CD24 is administered locally, works broadly and 
without side effects.'

The medicine will now move on to further trial phases, but hospital 
officials were already hailing it as a possible game-changer in fighting 
serious COVID-19 illness.

Ichilov director Roni Gamzu, the former coronavirus czar, said the 
research 'is advanced and sophisticated and may save coronavirus 
patients. The results of the phase 1 trial are excellent and give us all 
confidence in the method [Arber] has been researching in his lab for 
many years.' He added: 'I am proud that at Ichilov we are... possibly 
bringing a blue and white remedy to a terrible global pandemic.'

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(c) 2021 Times of Israel