Well, perhaps, seems to be the answer. Researchers at Radboud University have been working since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 on a potential antiviral drug against coronavirus. Unlike a vaccine, which is a preventive measure that teaches your body's immune system to fend off the virus, this drug targets a different phase of the illness: the spread of the virus within your body and the resulting symptoms. It treats the infection once it has entered your body.
How does it work?
"We focus on the 'proteases' of the virus particle. These are special enzymes the virus needs to cut its own protein structures and spread. If we can inhibit this, the virus can no longer perform any activity in your cells," says Prof. Floris Rutjes, director of the Institute for Molecules and Materials (IMM) at Radboud University. Rutjes, along with colleague Miriam Porzberg from the Synthetic Organic Chemistry group, is developing the drug. Recently, the researchers filed a patent for a special substance that can inhibit the proteases.
Competitor to Pfizer?
It might seem like a David vs. Goliath story, as pharmaceutical conglomerate Pfizer has brought a similar drug to market: Paxlovid. Rutjes explains, "Our substance is similar, but where Pfizer's drug only tackles the proteases of the virus particle, our substance affects two processes: the proteases of the virus and the cell the virus attempts to enter." Two birds with one stone; it reduces the chance of the virus entering the cell and of the virus cutting and spreading its proteins. The researchers hope this dual action will ultimately reduce the number of active virus particles in the body significantly.
Solution for long covid?
Can the drug also help long covid patients? Researchers are cautiously optimistic. Rutjes states, "Of course, much remains unclear about what long covid is and its causes. But we now know that long covid patients retain the covid infection particles in their bodies much longer than others, leading to prolonged inflammation in the body and brain. This drug could be a possible solution."
