Doctors Studying Multiple Sclerosis Drug For COVID-19 Treatment

KEY POINTS

Scientists are still racing to find a treatment for COVID-19
They are now looking at a multiple sclerosis (MS) drug to treat the deadly virus
They plan to combine the MS drug interferon with remdesivir in ongoing clinical trials

Doctors are studying the impact of a drug used to treat multiple sclerosis for COVID-19 treatment.

They are planning to combine the drug interferon beta-1a, marketed under the brand name Rebif, with remdesivir in ongoing clinical trials.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Aug. 5, the National Institutes of Health announced that remdesivir is set to enter a new stage in the ongoing studies, in which scientists will test the effect of combining it with a drug already approved for multiple sclerosis treatment. The biomedical research agency revealed that Rebif has been approved for use in the United States.

The latest phase of the research builds on a past study that found remdesivir, an antiviral drug, can help minimize the number of days, from 15 to 11 days on average, COVID-19 patients need to stay in hospitals.

The only other drug that has shown to benefit coronavirus patients in a significant way is a steroid called dexamethasone. A British study said the drug can minimize fatalities in severely ill coronavirus patients. However, despite the promising results shown by both dexamethasone and remdesivir, researchers say they are not enough to control the pandemic caused by the deadly bug.

The other downside is that patients can only receive remdesivir intravenously, which, in most instances, means that patients need to be in a medical facility. It is also very expensive. Gilead, the manufacturer of remdesivir, said in June that it will charge each person more than $2,000 for the treatment course. Dexamethasone, albeit cheaper, is only effective in treating really sick COVID-19 patients. Researchers say it can be very harmful in mild cases of COVID-19.

A larger clinical test, which the National Institutes of Health sponsors, will examine the effects of mixing remdesivir with interferon beta-1a. In an earlier study published on preprint server medRxiv, it suggests interferon may help COVID-19 patients clear the virus more rapidly.

"If we replace the interferon in conjunction with an antiviral [remdesivir], maybe we can prevent the progression of the disease," Dr. Andre Kalil, a senior investigator for the clinical test at the University Of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, told NBC News.