Clinical trials of Israeli drugs to fight coronavirus began today, May 5, in the Athenian hospitals “Sotiria” and “Attikon”.
A total of 90 patients with mild to moderate COVID-19, no respiratory distress, but with chest x-ray evidence of pulmonary involvement should receive this medication.
Mina Gaga, director of the 7th Lung Clinic at Sotiria Hospital, explained that the drug can be administered to patients between the ages of 18 and 80. However, because it is undergoing clinical trials, it cannot be widely applied to all patients.
“We are very happy every time a new effective drug appears. Studies in Israel have shown that patients feel good after using it. But this requires a long test run on different patients. It is necessary to check how safe and effective this medicine is. It is very important that we have such a tool, ”Gaga told reporters of the Mega TV channel.
The drug will be administered once a day for five days, and patients will be monitored after discharge.
The trials in Greece follow a discussion that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Jerusalem on February 8, 2021. Then the Prime Minister told B. Netanyahu about the intention of Greece to participate in clinical trials, as requested by several other countries.
Figuratively speaking, during a joint press conference, Mr. Netanyahu pocketed Mitsotakis with a bottle of “miracle” medicine, as he described it, announcing that the Greek Prime Minister had asked him to participate in clinical trials in Greek hospitals.
The day after the meeting of the two leaders, a telephone conversation took place between Professor Sotiris Tsiodras and Israeli Professor Nadir Arber, head of the testing department at Tel Aviv Ichilov Medical Center, where the drug was developed.
On April 29, the Israeli professor arrived in Greece, where he met with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Minister of Health Vasilis Kontosamanis and Professor Sotiris Tisodras at the Megaro Maximo Palace. The conditions for the start of clinical trials of the Israeli drug in Greece were discussed at the meeting.
As Mr. Arber told reporters at a press conference: “The positive elements of the treatment are that it is easy to administer – three to four minutes of inhalation once a day, and can even be applied at home. And secondly, its production is fast and cheap. ”
How does EXO-CD24 coronavirus medicine work?
The drug, developed by Professor Nadir Arber of the Center for Comprehensive Cancer Prevention at the same hospital, will be able to combat the alarming cytokine storm, a life-threatening systemic inflammatory syndrome in which the immune system goes out of control and begins to attack healthy cells, affecting the lungs in 5 7% of patients with Covid-19 and causing many deaths.
The medicine is administered by inhalation once a day for 5 days, the procedure takes only a few minutes. Protein is found on the surface of cells and plays a well-known and important role in regulating the immune system, helping to “calm it down” and curb storms.
It is based on exosomes that the body releases from the cell membrane and uses for intercellular communication. “We enrich exosomes with 24CD, which is known to play an important role in regulating the immune system,” explained Arber’s lab director Sheeran Shapira, who has been researching the CD24 protein for decades.
According to a clinical study conducted, 29 out of 30 patients with moderate to severe cases of coronavirus received EXO-CD24 treatment and reported a “clear” recovery in just 2 days. Efficiency 96.6%. After 3-5 days they were discharged from the hospital. Patient 30 also recovered, but after a longer period. In short, really outstanding results.
Scientists assure that this advanced drug can be produced quickly, efficiently and at very low costs in any pharmaceutical enterprise in the country, and in a short time around the world. In addition, this experimental treatment not only causes no side effects, but also has two unique characteristics. First, it suppresses the excessive secretion of cytokines. Second, the drug is injected directly into the lungs.
“Even if vaccines do their job, and even if new mutations do not appear, Covid will somehow stay with us,” said Arber, “that’s why we have developed this unique drug.”
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