Oral Medicine Used To Treat Blood Fat Reduction May Lower COVID-19 Virus Infection By Up To 70%: Study

Additional unpublished data suggest that fenofibrate is similarly efficient against the newer SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the Alpha and Beta strains, said the researchers

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New Delhi: According to a lab study published on August 6, an oral medicine used to treat abnormal levels of fatty compounds in the blood could lower SARS-CoV-2 virus infection by up to 70%. 
 
The team, led by University of Birmingham researchers, discovered that fenofibrate and its active form, fenofibric acid, can greatly reduce SARS-COV-2 infection in human cells in the lab. 

According to the researchers, infection reduction was achieved at drug concentrations that are safe and feasible with the regular clinical dose of fenofibrate. 

"Given that fenofibrate is an oral drug which is very cheap and available worldwide, together with its extensive history of clinical use and its good safety profile, our data has global implications -- especially in low-middle income countries," said study co-author Elisa Vicenzi, of the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Italy as reported by India Today. 

The researchers believe that if the medicine passes clinical trials, it could be effective in those for whom immunizations are not advised or appropriate, such as children, people with hyper-immune illnesses, and people using immunosuppressive drugs. 

Most nations throughout the world, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), have approved fenofibrate for use, they added. 

Two clinical trials of the medicine are presently underway in hospitalised Covid-19 patients, according to the researchers. They are being directed by the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in the United States and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. 

Additional unpublished data suggest that fenofibrate is similarly efficient against the newer SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the Alpha and Beta strains, said the researchers who added that study into the drug's efficacy against the Delta variant is also underway. 

The researchers also highlighted that further clinical investigations are urgently needed to determine whether fenofibrate is a possible treatment drug for SARS-CoV-2 infection.