Novel Antiviral Drug Appears Promising In Preventing Disease In Monkeys Infected With MERS-CoV

Ever since its emergence in 2012, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has affected 2,279 people from 27 different countries throughout the world. More than 800 people have died due to this respiratory disease. A new experimental antiviral ‘Remdesivir’ appears promising in preventing the disease in monkeys that are already infected with MERS-CoV.

The researchers at the National Institute of Health reported that Remdesivir prevented the disease when administered before the infection and improved the symptoms when administered after infection.

MERS-Cov is very closely related to the novel coronavirus COVID-19, which has grown to be a global public health emergency ever since the first cases detected in Wuhan, China.

Previous studies have reported that Remdesivir helped protected animals against a variety of viruses, including Ebola and Nipah. The drug has also been investigated as a treatment for the Ebola virus in the infected people.

The study

Conducted at NIAID's Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, the researchers included three groups of animals:

• Those treated with Remdesivir 24 hours prior to infection
• Those treated 12 hours after being infected
• Untreated control group

They observed all the animals for six days. The findings revealed the following:

• The animals that were treated before being infected exhibited no signs of respiratory disease and significantly lower levels of virus replication in the lungs and no lung damage
• Those treated after being infected had lower levels of virus in the lungs and there was less severe damage to the lungs
• The control group animals showed signs of respiratory disease

The researchers highlighted that the results of the study support clinical trials of Remdesivir for MERS-CoV, COVID-19 and the SARS-CoV-2. Several clinical trials of the promising antiviral drug are already underway in China

Through last December, the World Health Organization has confirmed 2,499 cases of MERS-CoV and about 1 in 3 deaths due to the deadly virus. Since more than a third of MERS-CoV cases spread from infected individuals being treated in hospitals, the researchers highlight the fact that Remdesivir could effectively treat and prevent the disease in other patients, contacts of patients as well as healthcare professionals.