Researchers discover anti-parasite drug kills coronavirus in lab

Researchers from Australia have found a drug already available around the world that can kill coronavirus in a lab setting in under 48 hours.

In a study published Friday, researchers at Monash University in Melbourne said the anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin was found to halt the SARS-CoV-2 virus from growing in cell culture within 48 hours.

“We found that even a single dose could essentially remove all viral RNA by 48 hours and that even at 24 hours there was a really significant reduction in it,” lead researcher Dr. Kylie Wagstaff said in a report by Monash University.

Wagstaff said the mechanism by which ivermectin works on coronavirus is not known, but based on how it interacts with other viruses, it likely stops the virus “dampening down” the host cells’ ability to clear it.

Ivermectin is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat scabies, head lice and rosacea, a skin condition. It was invented in 1975 and has been in use since the early 1980s. Monash’s report says ivermectin has also been proven effective in vitro against viruses such as HIV, Dengue, Influenza and Zika virus.

“Ivermectin is very widely used and seen as a safe drug,” Wagstaff said. “We need to figure out now whether the dosage you can use it at in humans will be effective — that’s the next step.”

Wagstaff cautions that these are very early test results and much more will need to be done, including clinical trials and human testing and will be necessary before any action can be taken. But, he says, it’s a sign of hope.

“In times when we’re having a global pandemic and there isn’t an approved treatment, if we had a compound that was already available around the world then that might help people sooner,” he said. “Realistically, it’s going to be a while before a vaccine is broadly available.”

The research was a collaborative effort between Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) with the Peter Doherty Institute of Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute), a joint venture of the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital.