ICMR expands the list of drugs to cure Covid-19

 The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has approved the use of Lopinavir/ritonavir — a fixed-dose combination of drugs used for treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS — for use in Covid-19 patients. India’s top body for health research, said that the drug can be used to treat patients with a moderate degree of severity, for example, respiratory distress with respiratory rate =22/min or SpO2 <94% and new-onset organ dysfunction.

Apart from this, several other drugs have been identified to cure the disease: including remdesivir (originally developed to treat Ebola), mycobacterium W (originally developed to treat leprosy), disulfiram (drug for treatment of alcohol dependence) and resveratrol (a natural compound from grape which is under clinical trials for heart and other diseases). However, according to sources, some of these drugs are undergoing clinical trials in India.

“Drug repurposing is much easier and a viable option to find a treatment for Covid-19. That’s why multiple studies are being conducted globally to identify drug combinations used for treating other coronaviruses — for example SARS and MERS, to see whether they can treat Covid-19 as well,” Dr Sarman Singh, director of AIIMS Bhopal commented.