Filenews 5 February 2021 - by Marilena Panagi
The world has been served by pandemic authorities in a race to manufacture anti-coronavirus vaccines. A year later, and while vaccinations have already begun, dozens of clinical trials are still under way, and the relevant evaluation bodies are constantly receiving applications from the manufacturers for approval of their vaccines.
The battle to manufacture vaccines has all the while largely overshadowed dozens of other studies and trials that are also underway concerning the manufacture of anti-drug drugs for the coronavirus. The question posed around the world by millions of ordinary citizens is simple: Why vaccines and not medicines?
The answer could be given to a single sentence: because medicines do not work preventively but are used after the development of the disease and the spread of coronavirus around the world, it imposes more drastic solutions.
Speaking to "F", associate professor of Pharmacology, Christos Petrou, explained that Covid-19 disease is a "multifactorial and multi-system disease, which means that they are needed and used to treat the formulations, depending on its various stages". Simply put, a patient with coronavirus can develop symptoms or even show damage to many different organs and at the same time, from the experience so far it is found, that the disease occurs with many different mechanisms. For this reason and its treatment is often done, a different medication.
It is important, he said, "that there are anti-viral drugs that treat the virus and reduce the onset and/or progression of the disease."
So far, "the only anti-ic formulation licensed is Remdesivir. In this preparation, conditional leave has been granted for treatment to adults and adolescents over 12 years of age with pneumonia who need supplemental oxygen'. This drug, however, is "re-evaluated, and there is no data yet on its value in the early stages of infection".
Unfortunately, Added Mr. Christou, "no other medicine has so far been shown to have an effect against coronavirus and to be taken by people positive for the virus, in order to prevent their admission to hospitalization, as is the case in the case of influenza A".
However, Plitidepsin has recently started to be included in the list of candidate medicinal substances for the treatment of the disease caused by coronavirus. "Recent research from Spain shows that Plitidepsin has a significant anti-tic effect, reducing the risk and, as all efforts show, will now proceed to the stage of clinical studies."
Part of the solution, not the monoclonal antibodies solution.
At the same time, there is a lot of talk about monoclonal antibodies during this time. 'Some monoclonal antibodies developed have been tested in small-scale clinical studies and are used limited in the US (Regeneron's notorious Trump cocktail, as well as Eli-Lilly antibodies)'.
They are given to patients over 12 years of age with a mild to moderate form of the disease who are not hospitalized but are "considered high risk". According to the professor, "they could be part of the solution and in no way the solution to the problem". These are, he said, "expensive treatments, of limited availability that need special handling and administration (injectables)". For one of them, the rolling evaluation process has been initiated by the EMA.
These monoclonal antibodies, "can neutralize the virus after someone gets sick. In other words, they do not have prophylactic use, while British studies show that these treatments are not effective in one or more variants of the virus, since they identify a specific area of a virus protein. If the area mutates and structure changes, then the antibody will not be effective."
All of these (medicines and antibodies), stressed Mr. Christou, "could treat the virus and reduce the onset and/or progression of the disease, but they do not have a prophylactic effect".
On the other hand, "vaccines "learn" the body to develop defense and be ready to deal with/neutralize the virus when it infects the body". They provide multiple protection "and the vaccines that we now have at our disposal cause the body to produce the spike protein, which our body recognizes as foreign, and creates many antibodies against many areas of its molecule".
But a vaccine, the professor stressed, "is considered effective only if it prevents people from suffering any degree of disease."
Clinical studies on vaccines, "measure the onset of symptoms after vaccination and on this basis measure efficacy and we already know that deaths in the studies have been reduced drastically, while the number of people in need of inpatient care has also decreased drastically".
In conclusion, he said, "we must not overlook the mutations of the crown." As far as anti-drug is concerned. "mutations will be able to alter the effectiveness of some anti-drug, monoclonal antibodies", while at the same time "new vaccine development technologies can give vaccines that treat mutations in a short time.
