Scientists believe a new coronavirus drug that has successfully treated 30 cases of the disease in Israeli hospital patients is a ‘true breakdown’.
The EXO-CD24 product was developed at Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv and passed the first phase of clinical trials on Friday.
The treatment was given to 30 patients with coronavirus, with their conditions ranging from moderate to severe.
Twenty-nine of the patients were discharged from the hospital in the following three or five days, and one patient took a little longer to recover.
A protein called CD24 is delivered to the lungs by exosomes in the drug, which help rebalance the immune system and prevent it from overcoming the virus.
Professor Nadir Arber first designed EXO-CD24, which is ingested as a gas and taken once every five days, to treat patients with ovarian cancer.
“Even if the vaccines do their job, and even if there are no new mutations, one way or another, the coronavirus will stay with us,” Dr. Arber told the Arutz Sheva news site .
“That’s why we developed this particular medicine.” It’s been about half a year since the idea was born to the first human trials. [being] led. “
Roni Gamzu, director of Ichilov Medical Center, said the research at stage one of the trial was “advanced and solemn and could save coronavirus patients”.
Speaking to the Israeli Times, he said: “The results of phase one tests are excellent, and they all give us confidence in the way Arber has been conducting research in the laboratory. for several years. “
Placebo was not used in the first phase of the trial, and the next phase of the clinical trials will continue to examine the efficacy and effectiveness of the treatment.
The drug Allocetra, developed at Hadassah Medical Center, has also reported promising results in the second phase of its clinical trial.
Israel announced yesterday that it would ease lockout restrictions but keep its borders closed after a drop in the number of coronavirus cases.