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Success with Rucaparib

A drug used against cancer could also be effective against severe coronavirus infection.

The international research involved 24 institutions with a total of 30 researchers, including the staff of the HUN-REN Natural Science Research Centre. In Hungary, the number of coronavirus cases is on the rise again, and we still have to wait for targeted vaccines for the variants that are currently spreading. In the fight against the corona pandemic, Hungarian researchers now appear to have found another treatment method.

Treatment of severe infections

The researchers tested the drug rucaparib and found that it can be effective in treating severe infections. The research was carried out according to the idea and under the coordination of Péter Bay, a professor at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Debrecen. The results were recently published in the British Journal of Pharmacology.

Virology professor Ferenc Jakab, who died this year, also took part in the research. In the Corona Action Group he led, he worked with György Miklós Keserű, head of the medicinal chemistry research group at the HUN-REN Natural Sciences Research Centre, from the beginning of the pandemic to discover therapeutic options and ensure a safe domestic drug supply.

Two phases of the disease

Covid-19 disease can be divided into two phases: the viral phase, in which the virus replicates in the body, and the second phase with the inflammatory processes that develop after the immune response to the infection. However, the drugs available are not equally effective in both phases. The drug Paxlovid, for example, is effective in the viral phase, but is no longer sufficient to treat cases with a more severe course. Due to the dual effect of rucaparib, it can already be used in the first phase. It may be of greater importance in patients with severe respiratory symptoms, as it can inhibit not only the spread of the virus but also inflammatory processes. The research group is currently working on the targeted inhibition of the proteins that are responsible for the function and reproduction of viruses.

 

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