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HomeHealthInvestigational drug Brilacidin shows efficacy against Covid in lab testing, finds study

Investigational drug Brilacidin shows efficacy against Covid in lab testing, finds study

The study says the drug has demonstrated synergistic antiviral activity when combined with remdesivir.

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New Delhi: A new investigational drug, Brilacidin, has shown efficacy against Covid-19 and is likely to work better when given with remdesivir, said a study published by MedRxiv, a portal for preprints or preliminary reports that have not been peer-reviewed.

MedRxiv, read as med-archive, was founded by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), a not-for-profit research institution, along with Yale University, and the peer-reviewed British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Brilacidin, manufactured by US-based Innovation Pharmaceuticals, is modeled after Host Defense Proteins (HDPs), which are the “front-line” of defence in the body’s innate immune system.

The study, uploaded on 30 October, titled Brilacidin, a COVID-19 Drug Candidate, Exhibits Potent In Vitro Antiviral Activity Against SARS-CoV-2 demonstrates that the investigational drug “is capable of exerting potent in-vitro (in test-tubes) antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, both as a standalone treatment and in combination with remdesivir, which is currently the only FDA-approved drug for the treatment of covid-19.”

The drug is a synthetic, non-peptidic small molecule which, according to its manufacturer, kills pathogens swiftly, significantly reducing the likelihood of drug resistance among patients. “Just as importantly, Brilacidin functions in a robust immunomodulatory capacity, lessening inflammation and promoting healing,” the company website said.


Also read: Approved by US, rejected by WHO — science of remdesivir & why it has turned controversial


Drug blocks viral entry

Explaining the mechanism of its working, the paper, authored by eight US-based researchers, concludes that the drug appears to act by disrupting viral integrity and blocking the viral entry into human cells.

It further added that “combining the drug with antiviral treatments that have a different mechanism of action” may produce better and enhanced results.

“The potential for brilacidin to exert a synergistic inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 when combined with current frontline Covid-19 antiviral treatments, namely, remdesivir and favipiravir, was assessed,” the researchers found.

The drug was tested for potential toxicity when taken in combination of remdesivir or favipiravir. However, “no apparent toxicity could be detected…,” the paper said.

The combination of brilacidin with remdesivir was noticed to reduce the viral load by more than 99 per cent, “thus providing a highly effective inhibition profile and achieving greater inhibition than with either compound alone…”

The data may also support the drug’s ability to interfere with the interaction between the spike proteins of the coronavirus and Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) Receptor —which is more likely to be the cell receptor through which the virus invades the host cell.

Brilacidin — the drug developed to treat skin infections

Brilacidin belongs to the latest class of antibiotics the manufacturer has dubbed “defensin-mimetic” which have anti-inflammatory, antibiotic and antiviral properties.

According to the drug maker, the new class antibiotics are considered attractive candidates given favourable characteristics, including being highly selective (potent against target while leaving host cells unaffected), not prone to resistance mechanisms, relatively easy to produce at low costs and stable during storage or upon administration.

The drug, till March, was being developed to treat serious skin infections, but also “oral mucositis and inflammatory bowel disease, with planned extension as topical agent into dermatologic diseases,” according to the company.


Also read: What are Covid mutations in India? Are they more infectious? Gene sequencing has the answers


 

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