RE: Booooom19 Mar 2020 00:11
Coronavirus crisis: Scientists to begin human trials of drug to help hospital patients
SCIENTISTS are working faster than ever to deliver new treatments and methods of testing in the fight against the killer coronavirus.
By HANNA GEISSLER
PUBLISHED: 00:01, Thu, Mar 19, 2020
A British team received the green light yesterday to begin Phase II human trials of a drug that could help hospital patients fight off infection. And Boris Johnson revealed that Public Health England is close to perfecting an antibody test that will be a game-changer for diagnosis. Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said Public Health England’s work on the antibody test is “progressing very fast” and will provide valuable insight into the pandemic.
Sir Patrick said: “It is a game-changer. It allows you to understand the proportion of the population who’s had this disease but hasn’t had symptoms.
“It’s going to be critically important to be able to monitor this disease well because only by being able to monitor it can we start relaxing measures again.”
New hope of a breakthrough came as the death toll jumped by 33, taking the UK total to 104.
The Government has announced schools will close from tomorrow and it is believed London could soon go into lockdown to slow the spread of the disease.
The PM said up to 25,000 people will soon be swabbed for the virus in hospitals daily, as testing is ramped up.
More than 200,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported around the world and 8,000 people have died, according to the World Health Organisation. Italy reported a big spike in deaths – 475 in 24 hours – taking its total to 2,978.
They have been developing a drug known as SNG001 to help people with chronic lung disease fight off viruses and believe it could have the same effect on Covid-19.
Up to ten hospitals will begin giving the inhaled drug to 50 patients next week and a further 50 will receive a placebo. If effective, it could be available for wider use within months.
Chief trial investigator Professor Tom Wilkinson said: “The science definitely adds up. We’re learning a lot about the pandemic every day.
“But that’s why we need to do this study, to understand whether the drug does work.
“If we see positive signals of safety and benefit in patients, we can then move