FDA approves coronavirus treatment trials with Israeli drug

With the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval for phase two trials, researchers are hoping that the Israeli drug Aviptadil, will be able to eliminate the so-called Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), the condition responsible for the deaths of about 50% of all COVID-19 patients.

By i24NEWS

 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Sunday has cleared NeuroRx, a US-Israeli pharmaceutical company, and Relief Therapeutics, a Swiss drug development company, for phase two trials for a drug that could take on a deadly condition associated with COVID-19.

The two companies announced that the FDA issued a “study may proceed” letter — which does not amount to a full-fledged drug approval — for the substance to be tried on COVID-19 patients.

An ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) unit at Sheba Medical Center’s new Corona Critical Care Unit (CCCU). An ECMO machine pumps and oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body, allowing the heart and lungs to rest. – Photo: Courtesy, Sheba Medical Center (Israel)

The drug in question, Aviptadil, is a synthetic form of a neuropeptide hormone that works to enable communications between neurons in the human nervous system.

The researchers are hoping that Aviptadil will be able to take on the so-called Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) — a condition responsible for about 50% of COVID-19 fatalities.

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ARDS is a respiratory system failure induced by a rapid and severe lung inflammation, with breath shortness — a symptom COVID-19 is widely associated with — among its key signs.

It effectively brings to a halt the oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange in the patient’s lungs, necessitating the use of an artificial lung ventilation machine.

 

View Ynet publication at:
https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/B1SdAHxw8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ISRAEL

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