Remdesivir can effectively prevent and treat mers infection

Li Xia In February 13th, novel coronavirus infection in the non-human primate animal model of Ganges RIver monkeys was not only prevented by the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, but also Remdesivi after infection with MERS-CoV, a team of scientists from the NIH National Institute of allergy and infectious diseases (NIAID) confirmed in February 13th in PNAS magazine R can also improve disease status [1] Remdesivir (gs-5734) belongs to nucleoside analogues It is an RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) inhibitor It can inhibit the synthesis of viral nucleic acids and is a broad-spectrum antiviral drug under research Remdesivir has previously been shown to be effective in the treatment of monkeys infected with Ebola and Nipah viruses, and is being investigated for potential use in the treatment of patients infected with Ebola In addition, there are also studies that confirm that remdesivir shows the activity of anti mers and SARS virus in vitro and in vivo animal models For example, a study published in the journal Nature communications on January 10 this year said that mice infected with mers receive "remdesivir + IFN β - 1B" combined treatment, which reduces virus replication and improves lung function [2] The latest study from NIAID involved three groups of animals: 1) animals treated with remdesivr 24 hours before infection with mers CoV; 2) animals treated with remdesivr 12 hours after infection (close to the replication peak of mers cov in these animals); 3) untreated control animals The scientists observed the animals for six days, and all the control animals showed symptoms of respiratory disease The results of animals treated with remdesivir before mers cov infection were good: there was no sign of respiratory disease, compared with the control group, the level of pulmonary virus replication was significantly reduced, and there was no lung injury After infection with mers CoV, the condition of the animals treated with remdesivir was significantly better than that of the control group: the disease was not serious in the control group, the level of pulmonary virus was lower than that of the control group, and the damage of the lungs caused by mers cov infection was not serious in the control group Novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) clinical trials of remdesivir are supported by these results, the researchers believe Recently, novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has been identified by some studies For example, a study published on Cell Research in February 4th confirmed that remdesivir could effectively control SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro In January 31st, according to NEJM, 1 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the United States were restored to [4] after intravenous injection of remdesivir At present, two phase III randomized controlled trials are under way to investigate the treatment of sars-cov-2 infection by remdesivir One trial (nct04257656) is for severe patients, and it is expected to enter 452 patients; the other trial (nct04252664) is for mild to moderate patients, and it is expected to enter 308 patients In the experimental group, 200 mg remdesivir was given intravenously on the first day and 100 mg remdesivir was given intravenously on the second to the tenth day On February 15, the Ministry of science and technology announced that 168 severe patients and 17 light and common patients had been enrolled in clinical research related to remdesivir In addition, some other sars-cov-2 infected patients are being treated with remdesivir through sympathetic medication We hope to see more clinical data of remdesivir in the treatment of sars-cov-2 infection as soon as possible.