With hydroxychloroquine letting the world down at a time COVID-19 cases sprints towards unimaginable figures, scientists have been working harder to produce a cure.
Russia which had recorded no case as at valentine day has recently been overwhelmed with over 400, 000 cases and 3,000 deaths.
Their recoveries, almost half of the confirmed cases have been encouraging and their scientists seem to be doing something right.
On Friday June 5, Russia’s ministry of Health registered a new drug, levilimab with the trade name ILSIRA.
The drug in the class of antirheumatics or Rheumatism treatment drugs is produced by Russian company, BIOCAD.
Indeed, the drug has undergone testing for Rheumatoid arthritis since 2016.
It’s intended for the control of the severe stages of covid-19 known as cytokine storm.
Cytokine storm is the condition where the immune system overact to the presence of the virus. This causes the body’s soldiers to attack itself resulting in multiple organ failure. This is fingered in the deaths of many COVID-19 patients.
“I think we’ll be able to keep COVID-19 disease complications under control and minimize the harshest problems it causes,” general director of BIOCAD, Dmitry Morozov, wrote on Facebook.
The drug is delivered through the skin and available only for now at Russian hospitals.
Levilimab has been undergoing clinical trials since April, and has been approved by the Russian Federation.
According to the news medical life sciences, 11 healthcare centers have participated in clinical trial of the drug.
Out of the 36 patients undergoing treatment, 10 were discharged as early as on day 7 to 8 with 1 patient have to be transferred to the intensive care.
The full data is however yet to make their way into a peer-reviewed journal.
This becomes the second drug to be churned out by the country. Avifavir was also announced by ChemRar Group, A Russian Company on June 1.
In April 29 release, Gilead inc. manufacturers of antiviral Remdesvir announced results of phase 3 trial in patients with severe COVID-19
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