New Delhi: Researchers from an Israeli hospital claim to have developed a drug that can “cure” Covid-19.
According to doctors at the Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, the preliminary trial results of the drug yielded a 96 per cent positive result on Covid patients.
Called EXO-CD24, it is a targeted drug that was being developed as a cure for cancer for the past few years.
Professor Nadir Arber from Ichilov Hospital’s Integrated Cancer Prevention Center, who has also been part of the drug’s development, said that the hospital had tested the medication on Covid-19 patients in serious and moderate condition.
Out of the 30 patients who were administered EXO-CD24, 29 showed an improvement in two days and were discharged from the hospital within three to five days. One patient took longer to recover.
In light of the positive trial results, the hospital has reached out to Israel health ministry requesting them to extend the trial.
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Another possible Covid ‘cure’
Apart from the Ichilov Hospital, the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem has also reported a drug that could be a potential cure for Covid-19.
The drug Allocetra, developed by the Israeli immunotherapy company Enlivex Therapeutics, was tested on 16 severe and critical Covid-19 patients.
These patients survived a 28-day phase 2 clinical trial period. The drug attempts to treat the ‘over-response’ of immune system, called a cytokine storm, which is commonly seen in Covid-19 patients requiring critical care.
Out of the 16 patients who were given the treatment, two critical care patients were still in intensive care at the end of the trial. Fourteen other patients recovered successfully and were discharged at the end of the trial.
The average duration of hospitalisation after receiving Allocetra was reported to be 5.3 days.
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