Scientists have claimed a new Covid pill has the potential to end repeat lockdowns by "killing" Covid within days.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week announced an intention for the UK to identify treatments anyone can take following a positive test or exposure to a virus carrier, reports the Mirror. It's hoped this could prevent further waves of the virus.
Currently, the only such antiviral for early-stages of infection in UK clinical trials is the flu drug Favipiravir, with a result is expected in six months.
Chief trial investigator Prof Kevin Blyth, of Glasgow University, said: “It would be a huge step forward if antiviral drugs work.
“You don’t have any hospital services being put under enormous pressure because patients never come to the hospital.
“Normal services can function and you don’t have to have lockdown or other draconian control measures.”
Favipiravir was developed in Japan in 2014.
The GETAFIX trial measures whether it prevents Covid patients from becoming more seriously ill, using a scoring system from one to ten.
If shown to work against SARS-CoV-2 - the virus which causes Covid-19 disease - then millions of doses will be handed out on the NHS.
Eventually, a daily tablet could “kill” coronavirus if taken within a few days of a positive test.
“Certainly over the next six months we should be able to get an answer,” Prof Blyth told the Mirror.
“If this drug did work in reducing hospital attendances and the risk of having a bad outcome, then you might want to test it in people who’ve just been exposed.
“You may be able to reduce spread and the risk of outbreaks happening.”
If the phase 2/3 GETAFIX trials show that Favipiravir is successful it could be the first anti-viral treatment against mild Covid.
Dr Janet Scott, who was previously chief investigator of the GETAFIX trial in its earlier stages, said: “In my view with concerted effort it is possible to have results by the autumn.
She added: “We do need a well-tolerated, oral antiviral that can be used quickly, when a person gets their first symptoms.”
British scientists previously discovered that the steroid Dexamethasone reduced symptoms and cut the risk of hospitalised patients dying, with NHS England revealing it has already saved 22,000 lives in the UK alone.
The immunosuppressant Tocilizumab has also shown promising signs, while Remdesivir had a mild benefit in severe Covid cases.
Prof Blyth said: “The drugs that have so far proven to be useful in Covid, pretty much all of them affect the immune system. So your body’s response to the virus.
“Trials like ours and others will be targeted a bit more against the virus.
“This just reflects the fact that we’ve got loads of antibiotics that kill bacteria but we’ve very few antivirals for acute viral illness, whether it’s Covid or anything else.
“Antivirals have not really taken off but diseases like HIV show how effective they can be.”
