Brazil’s Fiocruz Points to Promising Effect of Existing Aids/HIV Medicines

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A drug commonly used in the treatment of AIDS and manufactured on a large scale in Brazil has a promising effect in the fight against Covid-19 – higher even than Chloroquine, promoted by Presidents Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro and now in trials in several countries. This is shown by a study conducted for the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Brazil’s renowned public health institution.

The in vitro study found that the drug Atazanavir is effective in inhibiting the replication of the novel coronavirus, in addition to reducing the production of proteins that are linked to the inflammatory process in the lungs and, therefore, to the worsening of the clinical picture of those having the disease. Experts have also investigated the combined use of Atazanavir with Ritonavir, another drug used to fight Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

The study was published on Sunday, April 5th, on the BiorXiv international platform, following the trend of studies conducted during the health emergency. As it is a long-standing safe substance, the drug can be tested immediately on humans.

“The analysis of drugs already approved for other applications is the fastest strategy that science can provide to help fight Covid-19, along with adoption of the social distancing protocols already in place,” points out virologist Thiago Moreno, from the Center for Technological Development in Health (CDTS/Fiocruz), the main author of the study.

Considering that previous scientific studies had already pointed out protease inhibitors (substances that inhibit viral replication) in general as promising substances in the search for drugs for the novel coronavirus, the researchers turned their attention to the potential use of Atazanavir in particular.

In addition to inhibiting viral replication, it also has an action on the respiratory tract, which drew the attention of scientists in the selection stage of substances to be investigated.

The researchers performed three types of analysis: they observed the molecular interaction of Atazanavir with the SARS-CoV-2 virus; carried out experiments with this enzyme; and tested the drug in vitro on infected cells. Comparative experiments with Chloroquine, which has been included in several clinical studies worldwide, were also conducted. In this case the results obtained with Atazanavir alone, and in association with Ritonavir, were both better than those observed with Chloroquine.

“This is not a contest; the more promising substances, the better,” Moreno stressed. “If Chloroquine were 100 percent effective, we wouldn’t have any more Covid-19 deaths. Even if it is approved as a standard treatment, many people won’t be able to use it because of the side effects, so it’s always positive to have alternatives”.

The research, coordinated by CDTS/Fiocruz, also involves other scientists from the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC/Fiocruz) – including the Respiratory and Measles Virus, Immunopharmacology, Molecular Biology and Endemic Diseases Laboratories, and the Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectology (INI/Fiocruz), as well as the DOr Institute for Research and Teaching and Iguaçu University.

Source: Estadão