Even as the race for a vaccine to treat Covid-19 gathers momentum in laboratories across the world, governments, researchers and doctors are frenetically searching for workable solutions till such time as a new wonder drug is here. In the frontline of this fight are drugs that were originally developed to treat other diseases, but are thought to have qualities that can be used on Covid-positive patients.On Wednesday, the countrys apex body for health research, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), approved one such drug, Lopinavir/ritonavir a fixeddose combination of drugs used for treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS for Covid patients.It issued detailed guidelines stating that the drug combination can be used to treat hospitalised patients with a moderate degree of severity, for example respiratory distress and new-onset organ dysfunction.But this is not the only drug under consideration. ICMR has identified over a dozen other drugs, including remdesivir (originally developed to treat Ebola), mycobacterium W (originally developed to treat leprosy), disulfiram (drug for treatment of alcohol dependence) and resveratrol (a natural compound from grape which is under clinical trials for heart and other diseases), which could be used for treating Covid-19.

Some of these drugs are undergoing clinical trials in India, sources said.

Till now, ICMR says, no effective treatment has been recommended for the novel coronavirus, except meticulous supportive care.

In Covid fight, repurposed drugs a cheaper, less time-taking option

The protocol for use of lopinavir/ritonavir combination therapy released by the ICMR states their decision is based on the observational studies of clinical benefit amongst patients with SARS-CoV and MERSCoV as well as the docking studies conducted by the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

SARS and MERS, two outbreaks that took place in 2002 and 2012, respectively, were also caused by coronaviruses.

Any hospital administering anti-HIV drug combination to Covid-19 patients will need to obtain written consent from the patient. Also, such patients need to be enrolled into this protocol on case-to-case basis.

Hospitals will need to monitor patients closely to generate reliable data about clinical, laboratory, and safety outcomes.

The treatment outcomes amongst the first few cases would be useful in providing guidance about the clinical management of Covid-19 cases in future, the ICMR says. Council director general Balram Bhargava was actively involved in developing the treatment protocol using anti-HIV drugs.

Recently, the ICMR allowed the use of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine for prophylactic use among healthcare workers. Sources said AIIMS Delhi, AIIMS Bhopal, LNJP and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, among others, have been roped in by the ICMR to assess its efficacy in preventing the infection among healthcare workers.

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Repurposed drugs offer hope in Indias Covid fight - Times of India