Scientists optimistic on protein drug trials

SCIENTISTS were celebrating a “game changer” yesterday after an inhaled drug was found to prevent four out of five patients from developing severe Covid-19.

A study of hospitalised sufferers found that SNG001 reduced the number who became more seriously ill – to the point where they needed ventilation or died – by 79 per cent.

The drug contains the protein interferon beta, which is naturally produced by the body to fight viral infection.

Manufacturer Synairgen said those who received the treatment were more than twice as likely to recover to the point where everyday activities were not compromised by their illness.

Potential

The small trial was led by Professor Tom Wilkinson and Dr Karl Staples at the University of Southampton.

Prof Wilkinson said: “The results confirm our belief that interferon beta has huge potential as an inhaled drug to be able to restore the lungs’ immune response.”

The study included only 101 patients at nine hospitals and has yet to be peer reviewed.

But experts have been encouraged by the results.

Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow, said: “Although accepted that the trial is small, a 79 per cent reduction in disease severity could be a game changer.”

Professor Stephen Evans, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, added: “This seems to be a promising treatment for the early stages of Covid-19.”