ARCHIVED - Spanish antiviral medication reported to have 100 per cent success in treating Covid

Initial trials suggest that plitidepsin prevents reproduction of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and is effective against variants

The Spanish pharmaceuticals company PharmaMar is reporting that a chemical compound called plitidepsin, which is already used to treat gout and certain kinds of tumour, has been found to be almost 100 per cent effective in eliminating SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19.

The finding has been published in Science magazine and has been reported to the National Securities Market Commission with a view to making the product widely available for coronavirus treatment. This comes after two tests on infected animals produced a 99 per cent reduction of the viral charge in their lungs, and although the article published recognizes that the toxicity of plitidepsin is a concern its behaviour in the human body is well documented.

It is therefore known that in limited doses the substance can be tolerated, and the testing carried out shows that the dose required to treat Covid-19 is lower that the tolerance threshold.

Specifically, the research indicates that plitidepsin acts by blocking the eEF1A protein which is present in human cells, and which is used by SARS-CoV-2 to reproduce and infect other cells. Sources quoted in the Spanish press report that testing has already begun in human Covid patients and that even at very low doses the compound has been found to be fully effective: positive results were obtained in a sample of 45 patients in 13 hospitals.

In the words of one of the researchers, if the action of Covid is compared to that of a photocopy machine, plitidepsin effectively switches the machine off, and the conclusion of the article is that the use of the compound ought to be seriously considered for further clinical testing as a treatment for coronavirus.

Effectiveness against variants

Professor Kris M. White, of the Microbiology Department at the Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine, states that "if plitidepsin is successful as a treatment of Covid-19 then the SARS-CoV-2 virus will not be able to develop resistance against it by mutating”, meaning that it would continue to be viable as a treatment of strains such as those which have caused such concern after originating in southern Britain and in South Africa.

In order for the product to become widely available as a treatment for Covid it will be necessary for a third phase of testing to be completed, and PharmaMar is already contacting the health authorities in various countries, including Spain and the UK, with a view to carrying out such tests. The results will then be submitted to the relevant authorities for evaluation, but efforts are being made to speed up the process as far as possible.

With the pandemic death toll having risen to over 100,000 in the UK and estimated to be over 80,000 in Spain (although the official Ministry of Health figure is under 60,000) it can be assumed that the health authorities will share PharmaMar’s hopes that the test results confirm the initial findings, and that those infected in future can be treated with what appears to be by far the most effective medicine yet found.

Meanwhile, the price of PharmaMar shares on the stock market rose by 21 per cent as soon as the news broke on Tuesday afternoon!