Licensed drug (fenofibrate) could reduce
SARS-CoV-2 infection by up to 70 per cent, reveals study
Peer-Reviewed Publication
NEWS
RELEASE 6-AUG-2021
UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
A licensed drug normally used to treat abnormal levels of fatty
substances in the blood could reduce infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus
by up to 70 per cent, reveals a study in the laboratory by an international
collaboration of researchers.
The research team, led by the University of Birmingham and Keele
University in the UK and the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Italy, has
demonstrated that fenofibrate and
its active form (fenofibric acid) can significantly reduce SARS-COV-2 infection
in human cells in the laboratory. Importantly, reduction of infection was
obtained using concentrations of the drug which are safe and achievable using
the standard clinical dose of fenofibrate. Fenofibrate, which is approved for use by most countries in the world
including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK's National
Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), is an oral drug currently used to treat conditions such as high levels
of cholesterol and lipids (fatty substances) in the blood.
The team is now calling for clinical trials to test the drug in
hospitalised COVID-19 patients, to be carried out in addition to two clinical
trials also currently underway in such patients in research being led by the
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in the US and Hebrew University of
Jerusalem in Israel.
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, infects the host through an
interaction between the Spike protein on the surface of the virus and the ACE2
receptor protein on host cells. In this study, responding to the global
COVID-19 pandemic, the team tested a panel of already licensed drugs –
including fenofibrate - to identify candidates that disrupt ACE2 and Spike
interactions. Having identified fenofibrate as a candidate, they then
tested the efficacy of the drug in reducing infection in cells in the
laboratory using the original strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus isolated in
2020. They found fenofibrate reduced infection by up to 70%.
Additional unpublished data also indicates that fenofibrate is equally
effective against the newer variants of SARS-CoV-2 including the alpha and beta
variants and research is ongoing into its efficacy in the delta variant.
Corresponding author Dr Farhat Khanim, of the University of Birmingham
in the UK, explained: “The development of new more infectious SARS-CoV-2
variants has resulted in a rapid expansion in infection rates and deaths in
several countries around the world, especially the UK, US and Europe. Whilst
vaccine programmes will hopefully reduce infection rates and virus spread in
the longer term, there is still an urgent need to expand our arsenal of drugs
to treat SARS-CoV-2-positive patients.”
Co-corresponding author Dr Alan Richardson, of Keele University in the
UK, added: “Whilst in some countries vaccination programmes are progressing at
speed, vaccine uptake rates are variable and for most low middle income
countries, significant proportions of the population are unlikely to be
vaccinated until 2022. Furthermore, whilst vaccination has been shown to reduce
infection rates and severity of disease, we are as yet unsure of the strength
and duration of the response. Therapies are still urgently needed to manage
COVID-19 patients who develop symptoms or require hospitalisation.”
Co-author Dr
Elisa Vicenzi, of the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, Italy, said:
“Our data indicates that fenofibrate may have the potential to reduce the
severity of COVID-19 symptoms and also virus spread. Given that fenofibrate is
an oral drug which is very cheap and available worldwide, together with its
extensive history of clinical use and its good safety profile, our data has
global implications - especially in low-middle income countries and in those
individuals for whom vaccines are not recommended or suitable such as children,
those with hyper-immune disorders and those using immune-suppressants.”
First author Dr Scott Davies, also of the University of Birmingham,
concluded: “We now urgently need further clinical studies to establish whether
fenofibrate is a potential therapeutic agent to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection.”
The research, published today (Aug 6) in Frontiers in Pharmacology, was also carried out in collaboration with the
University of Copenhagen in Denmark and the University of Liverpool in the UK.
Ends
To arrange media interviews with Dr Frahat Khanim or Dr Scott Davies
please contact Emma McKinney, Media Relations Manager (Health Sciences),
University of Birmingham, via e.j.mckinney@bham.ac.uk or Tel: +44 7815607157
To arrange interviews with Dr Alan Richardson, contact Andrew Cain,
media relations manager, Keele University, email: a.i.cain@keele.ac.uk
Notes for Editors
- Davies et al. ‘The hyperlipidaemic
drug fenofibrate significantly reduces infection by SARS-1 CoV-2 in cell
culture models’. Frontiers in Pharmacology.
- The University of
Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions, and its
work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including
researchers and teachers and more than 6,500 international students from
nearly 150 countries.
- Keele University is
ranked among the Top 10 universities in England for overall student
satisfaction (NSS 2021), and is world-renowned for its breadth of teaching
and research that tackles the world's most urgent problems, with 97% of
its research being deemed to be world-leading, or of international
importance (REF 2014).
JOURNAL
Frontiers in Pharmacology
DOI
10.3389/fphar.2021.660490
METHOD OF
RESEARCH
Experimental study
SUBJECT OF
RESEARCH
Cells
ARTICLE TITLE
The hyperlipidaemic drug fenofibrate significantly
reduces infection by SARS-1 CoV-2 in cell culture models
ARTICLE
PUBLICATION DATE
5-Aug-2021
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news
releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of
any information through the EurekAlert system.
Vaccine pushers suppress existing, approved,
cheap medication that can reduce COVID infections by 70%
Monday, August 09, 2021 by: JD Heyes
Tags: Anthony Fauci, badhealth, badmedicine, badscience, Big Pharma, cholesterol drug, conspiracy, corruption, covid-19, deception, fenofibrate, medical censorship, pandemic, research, Tyranny
9,580VIEWS
(Natural News) Vaccine pushers led by ‘experts’ like
Dr. Anthony Fauci and NIH
Director Dr. Francis Collins are continuing to suppress information about
existing medications that have long been approved and are extremely effective
at treating COVID-19 infections all because they’re obviously in bed with the
Big Pharma CEOs who have become billionaires thanks to the emergency approval
of their coronavirus shots.
One of those
drugs is called fenofibrate, and British researchers have just published a
peer-reviewed paper touting its effectiveness. The questions are, will the
information get past the social media facists and will ‘experts’ like Fauci and Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky tell the American people about it?
“A licensed
drug normally used to treat abnormal levels of fatty substances in the blood
could reduce infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus by up to 70 percent,
reveals a study in the laboratory by an international collaboration of
researchers,” a press release published last week noted.
“The research
team, led by the University of Birmingham and Keele University in the UK and
the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Italy, has demonstrated that
fenofibrate and its active form (fenofibric acid) can significantly reduce
SARS-COV-2 infection in human cells in the laboratory,” the release continued.
“Importantly, reduction of infection was obtained using concentrations of the drug which are safe and
achievable using the standard clinical dose of fenofibrate,” it added.
The drug has
already been approved for use in most countries and that includes the United
States; the Food and Drug Administration, as well as the UK’s National
Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), has approved it for oral use for
treatment of conditions that include high cholesterol levels and to reduce
lipids (fatty substances) in the bloodstream, thus lowering the risk for heart
attacks and strokes.
Research proves drug’s effectiveness
“The team is
now calling for clinical trials to test the drug in hospitalized COVID-19
patients, to be carried out in addition to two clinical trials also currently
underway in such patients in research being led by the Hospital of the
University of Pennsylvania in the US and Hebrew University of Jerusalem in
Israel,” the press release stated.
The research
team explained how fenofibrate works to prevent COVID from seriously infecting
people:
SARS-CoV-2,
the virus that causes COVID-19, infects the host through an interaction between
the Spike protein on the surface of the virus and the ACE2 receptor protein on
host cells. In this study, responding to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the team
tested a panel of already licensed drugs – including fenofibrate – to identify
candidates that disrupt ACE2 and Spike interactions.
Having
identified fenofibrate as a candidate, they then tested the efficacy of the
drug in reducing infection in cells in the laboratory using the original
strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus isolated in 2020. They found fenofibrate reduced
infection by up to 70%.
Additional
unpublished data also indicates that fenofibrate is equally effective against
the newer variants of SARS-CoV-2 including the alpha and beta variants and
research is ongoing into its efficacy in the delta variant.
“The
development of new more infectious SARS-CoV-2 variants has resulted in a rapid
expansion in infection rates and deaths in several countries around the world,
especially the UK, US and Europe,” said one of the researchers, Dr. Farhat
Khanim, of the University of Birmingham in the UK.
“Whilst
vaccine programs will hopefully reduce infection rates and virus spread in
the longer term, there is still an urgent need to expand our arsenal of drugs
to treat SARS-CoV-2-positive patients,” Khanim added.
Dr. Alan
Richardson, of Keele University in the UK, added, “Therapies
are still urgently needed to manage COVID-19 patients who develop symptoms or
require hospitalization.”
Additionally,
Dr. Elisa Vicenzi, of the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in
Milan, Italy, added, “Our data indicates that fenofibrate may have the
potential to reduce the severity of COVID-19 symptoms and also virus spread.”
She went on
to say that the drug is cheap, widely available in most countries, and would
benefit low-to-middle-income persons the most — another reason why Big Pharma hates it as a COVID treatment.
Sources include:
Eureka.org
NaturalNews.com
