An international research collaboration, including The Kids Research Institute Australia infectious disease specialist Tobias Kollmann, has shown that the antiviral drug Interferon can speed up the recovery of COVID-19 patients.
In findings published today in Frontiers in Immunology the research team – led by Dr. Eleanor Fish, emerita scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network – found treatment with Interferon(IFN) a2b may significantly accelerate virus clearance and reduce levels of inflammatory proteins in COVID-19 patients.
Professor Kollmann said that while our bodies naturally produced interferon to fight off viruses, the study demonstrated the benefits of boosting interferon levels in COVID-19 patients. Synthetic interferon has been used clinically for many years for other purposes.
“We found treating COVID-19 patients with interferon significantly reduced the duration of shedding of the virus in the upper respiratory tract,” Professor Kollmann said.
“Interferons work as the body’s own best defence against SARS-CoV-2, and we were able to show how they can be a powerful weapon against this pandemic.”
Given the limitations of the exploratory study – which involved a group of 77 patients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China who had moderate symptoms – Dr Fish said a randomised clinical trial was a crucial next step. She said a clinical trial with a larger group, where infected patients could be randomised to receive the treatment or a placebo, would further this research.
It’s hoped The Kids Research Institute Australia’s CoCo Study (Containing Coronavirus), announced earlier this month, will do just that.
Co-led by Professor Kollmann and senior respiratory researcher Professor Stephen Stick and made possible by a $2.65 million donation from BHP’s Vital Resources Fund, CoCo will enable The Kids researchers to test whether administering interferon to people who test positive and their contacts can help reduce viral shedding, and therefore possibly stop the spread of the virus.
“The data from our Wuhan study suggest that giving IFN to all around an infected case, we should be able to contain an outbreak.” Professor Kollmann said.
“Think of this treatment plan as putting a preventative ring around the infected person and their contacts. We are testing this in CoCo.
“This may give us a fighting chance against COVID-19 while we wait for a viable vaccine to be developed.”