EDMONTON -- A drug that failed clinical trials as a potential Ebola cure may be effective in stopping the replication mechanism of the virus that causes COVID-19, researchers at the University of Alberta have found.
Scientists say remdesivir, originally developed in 2014 to fight the Ebola epidemic, is "highly effective" in halting the replication mechanism of the novel coronavirus.
The same U of A virology lab found in late February that the drug worked well against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which is caused by a related coronavirus.
The drug's effect on coronaviruses is the same idea as putting diesel in a gas-powered car in that it stops the engine, according to Dr. Matthias Gotte, medical microbiology and immunology chair at the university.
"We will have answers, some good answers in a couple of months from now, whether remdesivir or any of the drugs that are right now in randomized clinical trials, whether they show benefit to certain patients or not," said Gotte.
He says drug manufacturer Gilead has already given the drug to some critically ill COVID-19 patients on compassionate grounds, and two-thirds of those patients recovered.
While the drug has shown to be effective, Gotte is cautioning against jumping to conclusions on how the drug will work in the general population until clinical trials, which have been fast-tracked by the World Health Organization, have concluded.
"We've got to be patient and wait for the results of the randomized clinical trials," he said.
The lab's research was funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research, the Alberta government's Major Innovation Fund and Gilead.
The research was published Tuesday in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
