With coronavirus cases around the world now at over 20 million, scientists have been working around the clock to find a treatment for the disease.
Now, scientists from South Korea’s Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co claim that a simple anti-parasitic drug could be use to treat Covid-19 patients.
The drug, called niclosamide, is usually used to treat people with tapeworms, but has now received Indian regulatory approval to be tested in Covid-19 patients.
According to Reuters, the drug has already been tested on ferrets, and was found to clear the infection in the animals’ lung tissues and inhibited inflammation.
Now, the first phase of the human trial is set to begin this month, in which the drug will be tested on around 30 healthy participants.
Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co is working with New Delhi-based Mankind Pharma Ltd, which will continue the second and third phases trials in India.
While a timeline for the drug trial remains unclear, the researchers are confident that the drug could be approved for Covid-19 by the end of 2020.
Speaking to Reuters, Jeon Seng-ho, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, said: “Based on the positive outcome of the animal test, we plan to complete human trials and get approval of the Covid-19 treatment drug by the end of this year.”
Daewoong Pharmaceutical isn’t the only firm looking at niclosamide as a potential treatment for coronavirus.
According to Reuters, three other companies are assessing niclosamide as a potential treatment, although Daewoong is the only firm to offer the drug in a non-oral formulation.
