A new early treatment for COVID-19 is reportedly showing promise in testing.
Research detailed in The New England Journal of Medicine on February 9 indicated that an injection of pegylated interferon lambda could prevent hospitalizations for those infected with the COVID-19 virus.
Interferons are a family of cytokines that possess antiviral properties, according to a website from the National Institutes of Health.
“What this drug is doing is trying to augment our body’s own response to infection, to try to hasten clearance,” said Dr. Paul Sax, director of the division of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, according to USA Today.
Interferon lambda has been tested in over 4,000 patients across over 20 clinical trials for conditions such as hepatitis B, C, and D, and COVID, according to the new study.
The National Library of Medicine detailed a study done in 2019 on the effect of interferons on obesity and observed that the drug demonstrated a favorable effect against obesity by motivating metabolism and antiviral reactions.
Obesity, an epidemic affecting over 40% of adults in the U.S., has been observed as a compounding factor in many illnesses, including COVID-19.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of some forms of interferons, such as Interferon beta-1a to treat forms of multiple sclerosis.
In the new study, conducted across Canada and Brazil, researchers administered an injection of interferon lambda to 933 patients and compared statistics to 1,018 other patients who had received a placebo. Each of these patients had tested positive for the virus, and 83% were vaccinated.
Researchers observed that only 2.7% of the 83% vaccinated interferon group required hospitalization, the study suggests, compared to the 5.6% of those who had received the placebo, indicating a prevention rate of 51%.
Dr. Jeffrey Glenn, the leader of the study, also said that the group that received the injection did not appear to demonstrate any adverse side effects.
Glenn indicated to USA Today that this injection could replace Paxlovid tablets, saying that while a patient must normally take 30 tablets over five days, patients receiving interferon lambda would only require one injection.
The FDA decided that more data beyond those included in the study would be needed to obtain authorization for the medication in the U.S., according to USA Today.
Dr. David Apelian, the interim CEO of Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, which manufactures the medication, told USA Today that he hopes the medication is quickly approved in other nations like Australia and China.
Despite evaluations of the interferon beta-1a variant as well as lambda for COVID-19 treatment, the COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel previously recommended against using either variant for the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, with the exception of clinical trials, according to guidelines last updated in December 2021.
Officials previously recommended against using this medication due to low efficacy rates and potential harm to patients “with severe disease, such as those who were on high-flow oxygen, noninvasive ventilation, or mechanical ventilation,” as noted in the guidelines.
