WHO has added new drugs to treat Covid in omicron growth. Recent recommendations call for new patent exemptions to allow more people to access treatment. The World Health Organization (WHO) has added two Additional drugs to its guidelines for the recommended treatment of COVID-19, as the most contagious Comicon variant of the coronavirus is causing an unprecedented increase in cases worldwide
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| WHO has added new |
Baricitinib, which is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, is "highly recommended" for patients with acute or severe COVID-19 taking corticosteroids, according to guidelines published by the UK's international expert panel. Friday Medical Journal.
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The committee said the drug reduces ventilation requirements and has been found to improve patients' chances of survival without any signs of increased adverse reactions.
The committee made a "conditional recommendation" for sotrovimab, an experimental monoclonal antibody treatment for those who have non-serious COVID-19 but are at higher risk of hospitalization. Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made compounds that mimic the body's natural immune system.
As the epidemic accelerates around the world, new treatment recommendations come along. More than 15 million new cases of COVID-19 were reported to the WHO last week - the most in a single week - powered by the Omicron variant, which is replacing the almost ubiquitous Delta variant.
The recommendations were based on new evidence from seven trials involving more than 4,000 patients in non-acute, chronic, and severe cases of Covid-19.
The guidelines add up to previous recommendations for the use of interleukin-6 receptor blockers and systemic corticosteroids in patients with acute or severe COVID-19 virus; Conditional recommendation for the use of Casirivimab-Imdevimab (another monoclonal antibody therapy) in selected patients; And against the use of convulsive plasma, ivermectin, and hydroxychloroquine in Covid-19 patients, regardless of disease severity.
The French humanitarian organization Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) welcomed the new recommendations and called on the government to address patent protection to ensure that as many people as possible benefit from the treatment.
Baricitinib is manufactured by US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, and although generic versions are available in India and Bangladesh, patents are valid in other countries, including Brazil and Indonesia.
For almost two years now, we have witnessed helplessly that people are dying from COVID-19 in the catastrophic wave of the disease. Countries where MSF operates, ”said Dr. Marciuda Fonseka, Medical Adviser for Infectious Diseases for the MSFAaccess Campaign.
"The potential for high-level intensive care is limited, so saving more lives with serious and complex infections depends largely on access to affordable drugs that we can add to the stimulus, oxygen, and supportive care we already provide in our projects. At the same time, it will only be inhumane if it is unavailable in resource-limited settings because it is patented and so expensive. "
The World Health Organization added what it called "life-saving" interleukin-6 receptor blockers to its COVID-19 treatment list last July. Corticosteroids are recommended for use in September 2020
In recent weeks, government regulators have approved new oral treatments for the disease, including Paxlovid, Pfizer's antiviral birth control pill, which has been shown to be about 90% effective in preventing hospitalization and death in high-risk patients. The company says it also retains its effectiveness with Omicron.
