COV-IRT Member Publication: Insights from nanomedicine into chloroquine efficacy against COVID-19
COV-IRT member, Matthew Frieman, is a co-author on this paper.
Published March 23, 2020 in Nature Nanotechnology
Abstract
Chloroquine — an approved malaria drug — is known in nanomedicine research for the investigation of nanoparticle uptake in cells, and may have potential for the treatment of COVID-19.
Recent multicentre clinical trials and cell culture studies suggest that the 70-year-old malaria drug, chloroquine, may potentially display therapeutic efficacy against COVID-19 (corona virus disease 2019), a rapidly spreading viral infection that can cause pneumonia-induced death in approximately 2.5% of infected individuals. Based on the preliminary clinical trial findings, chloroquine has been included in federal guidelines for treatment of COVID-19 in the People’s Republic of China. However, caution should be exercised when making premature interpretations, as clinical trials are still ongoing and interim trial data have not yet been made available. Given the current lack of an approved and effective vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus causing COVID-19, it is important to evaluate potential prophylactic and/or therapeutic effects of drugs that are clinically approved for other indications. Chloroquine and its derivative, hydroxychloroquine, have a long history as safe and inexpensive drugs for use as prophylactic measures in malaria-endemic regions and as daily treatments for autoimmune diseases with the most common side effect being eye damage after long-term use. Although previous studies have revealed that […]