Inhaled drug ‘can fight bug’

INHALING an experimental drug that boosts the immune system could help coronavirus patients, experts believe.

Doctors at University Hospital Southampton are testing the new treatment on 100 patients, with results expected next month. A second trial is due to start for patients with early-stage coronavirus to use the inhaler at home.

The treatment – known as SNG-001 – uses a protein our bodies produce when we get a viral infection. UK firm Synairgen has licensed it to pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca in a £180million deal.

Professor Tom Wilkinson, of Southampton University, who is leading the trial, said of the treatment’s potential: ‘In an ideal world we would see a significant improvement in the health of the patients receiving the drug.’