Trial launched testing existing drugs in bid to treat coronavirus patients
Treating Covid-19 patients may change after a nationwide trial has launched at Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge.
Researchers are testing two existing drugs in a bid to stop what seems to be the body's immune system overreacting to the infection. The first drug called Baricitinib is used to treat arthritis which calms part of the body's immune response by blocking crucial messenger chemicals called Cytokines. The other drug, Ravulizumab, is commonly used to treat a rare blood disorder which targets proteins called Complement which often go rogue and can destroy healthy Covid patients.
The trial is selecting Covid-19 patients who are at risk of ending up at intensive care, where many suffer multiple suffer organ failure - not caused by the virus but by our body's response to it.
For more information visit: ITV News
Published May 21, 2020
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