When is the key to the convergence of the new corona, the remedy/vaccine?
A new type of coronavirus infectious disease that is raging all over the world, but when and in what form will it be converging? We analyzed the development status and prospects of therapeutic drugs and vaccines based on current information.
With regard to therapeutic drugs, drug repositioning (diversification of existing drugs) is being evaluated. It takes at least several years to develop a new drug from scratch, so the reality is that we are trying every single drug that could be diverted. Drugs for new type coronavirus infections are divided into (1) antiviral drugs that prevent the invasion and proliferation of viruses, and (2) anti-inflammatory drugs that improve severe conditions.
Examples of antiviral drugs include "Abigan" (Fabipyravir), an influenza drug developed by Fujifilm Toyama Kagaku, a subsidiary of Fujifilm Holdings, and lemdecibir, which was developed by Gilead Sciences to treat Ebola. These are currently in the final stages of Phase 3 clinical trials and are expected to be put to practical use in the latter half of 2020 at the earliest.
These antiviral drugs are expected to have an effect of preventing aggravation and an effect of promoting recovery by administering them mainly after the onset. Attention has also been focused on reports that Avigan and lemdesibir have shown remarkable effects when administered to critically ill patients.
Anti-inflammatory drugs are expected to have the effect of suppressing the lung from becoming dysfunctional by stopping the excessive immune reaction that is mainly observed in critically ill patients. Examples of anti-inflammatory drugs include "Actemra" (tocilizumab), a drug for treating rheumatoid arthritis created by Chugai, and "Kebuzara" (salilumab), a drug for treating rheumatoid arthritis created by Regeneron in the US and sold by France's Sanofi. These are also undergoing phase 3 clinical trials, etc., and are expected to be put to practical use in the latter half of 20 years at the earliest.
Therapeutic drugs do not prevent the infection of the virus, but they are necessary to reduce the mortality rate and severity of infection in the infected person, and development is urgent.
Vaccine development may be difficult
Next, regarding the development status of vaccines, as a representative example, a genetic material called "messenger RNA (mRNA)", which is being developed in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) by Modela, a US biotechnology company, Vaccine "mRNA-1273" that takes advantage of its characteristics can be mentioned.
This vaccine is a vaccine that guides immunity by sending spike proteins necessary for new coronavirus infection to make spike proteins in the body. Phase I clinical trials have started in mid-March to evaluate safety and immunogenicity.
In addition, the DNA vaccine "INO-4800," which is being developed by US biotechnology company Inobio Pharmaceuticals, began clinical trials in April. It is expected that it will take 12 to 18 months at the earliest to be put into practical use.
However, vaccine development may not be as straightforward as therapeutic drugs. One of the concerns of vaccine development is the risk of side effects called antibody-dependent infection enhancement (ADE).
ADE is a phenomenon in which an antibody promotes infection and inflammation of a virus for some reason and causes aggravation. In a vaccine study for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), a phenomenon similar to ADE has been confirmed in animal experiments, and it stands as a major barrier to vaccine development for new coronavirus infections. there is a possibility.
Another concern is the possibility of virus mutation. Thousands of mutations have been identified in the new coronavirus infection virus. If a mutation occurs in the site targeted by the vaccine, the effect of the vaccine may be diminished, so it is necessary to clear this point as well.
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