For the time being, remdesivir and dexamethasone are the only drugs that have been shown to hasten COVID-19 recovery, with remdesivir being the first coronavirus COVID-19 drug to receive FDA approval.
Researchers from Spain think they have a different drug on their hands that might work even better than remdesivir against the novel coronavirus.
Research so far has shown that the drug has antiviral effects, preventing the coronavirus from multiplying after it infects cells.
As a result, plitidepsin can significantly reduce recovery time and help hospitals manage their increasing COVID-19 caseloads.
The researchers used plitidepsin on 27 patients with severe forms of COVID-19, Spanish news site La Vanguardia reported a few days ago.
The paper suggests that the drug might be especially useful in the early days of the infection to prevent the virus’s rapid proliferation that can lead to severe COVID-19 cases.
Plitidepsin was able to inhibit the replication of the novel coronavirus in vitro much better than remdesivir, according to findings from the Coronavirus Laboratory of the National Center for Biotechnology (CNB)