Greek discovery: Liver drug that fights Covid-19

An off-patent drug for various liver diseases, UDCA (ursodeoxycholic acid), can prevent Covid-19 infection and protect against future variants of the coronavirus, scientists in Britain led by a Greek diaspora hepatologist have announced.

The relevant experiments were done on organoids (mini human organs), animals, human organs from donors, healthy volunteers and patients. The researchers, led by Dr. Fotios Sambaziotis of the Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute of the University of Cambridge, made the relevant publication in the journal “Nature”.

Research has shown that the drug can “lock” the “gateway” (the ACE2 receptor on the cell surface) that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus uses to enter and infect human cells. Because the drug targets human cells and not the constantly mutating virus, it is estimated that it may retain its protective effectiveness against future variants of the coronavirus or against other coronaviruses that may emerge.

If the findings are confirmed by larger clinical trials, then scientists will have a vital new drug on their hands, very useful especially for people who have not had a vaccine or for whom the vaccine is ineffective, as well as for people at high risk of infection.

As Dr. Sambaziotis stated, “vaccines protect us by strengthening our immune system so that it recognizes the virus and eliminates it or at least weakens it. But vaccines do not work for everyone, for example those with a weakened immune system and also not everyone has access to them. Also, the virus can mutate into new vaccine-resistant variants. Thus, we were interested in finding alternative ways to protect ourselves from the coronavirus infection, which do not depend on the immune system and can complement the vaccination. We discovered a way to shut the door on the virus, preventing it from entering our cells in the first place and protecting us from infection.”

Professor Andrew Owen of the University of Liverpool pointed out that “although we need standard controlled randomized clinical trials to confirm these findings, the data provide compelling evidence that UDCA can work as a drug that protects against Covid-19 and works adjunctively with vaccination programs, especially for vulnerable groups of the population”.

Sambaziotis, who is a graduate of the University of Athens School of Medicine, specializing in hepatology and a PhD from Cambridge, and co-founder of the biotech company Bilitech LTD, said that “we have used UCDA in the clinic for many years, so we know that it is safe and very well tolerated. It costs little, can be produced in large quantities quickly, and is easily stored or transported, making it useful during outbreaks, especially against vaccine-resistant variants, and can be the only line of defense while we are waiting for new vaccines to be developed. We are optimistic that this drug can become an important weapon in our fight against Covid-19.”

RES-EMP

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