A Novel Protein Drug, Novaferon, as the Potential Antiviral Drug for COVID-19

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.24.20077735v1

The antiviral effects of Novaferon for COVID-19 patients were in consistence with the laboratory findings. Novaferon inhibited the viral replication in infected cells (EC50=1.02 ng/ml), and protected healthy cells from SARS-CoV-2 infection (EC50=0.1 ng/ml). Results from the 89 enrolled COVID-19 patients showed that both Novaferon and Novaferon plus Lopinavir/Ritonavir groups had significantly higher SARS-CoV-2 clearance rates on day 6 than the Lopinavir/Ritonavir group (50.0% vs.24.1%, p = 0.0400, and 60.0% vs.24.1%, p = 0.0053). Median time to SARS-CoV-2 clearance were 6 days, 6 days, and 9 days for three groups respectively, suggesting a 3-day reduction of time to SARS-CoV-2 clearance with Novaferon.

 

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