For many patients with severe infections of the novel coronavirus, it is not the virus itself that kills them but the series of events it triggers. One of the most fatal outcomes is when patients develop Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with cytokine storms.
Cytokines are protein groups that coordinate the immune response. In severe cases of COVID-19 and even pneumonia, a “cytokine storm” can take place, where a positive feedback loop creates an immune response so strong it damages critical bodily functions.
It has been hypothesised for years that targeted interventions on the cytokine storm itself could help with cases of severe pnemonia. Now, Israeli scientists have applied this to treatment of COVID-19 itself, with a result that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself has dubbed a “miracle drug”.
The EXO-CD24 inhaler treatment, developed by Prof Nadir Arber at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital), was tested on 30 patients with moderate to severe condition, all of whom recovered—29 within just 3-5 days.
It is administered through inhalation, once a day, in a procedure that takes only a few minutes, for five days, Arber told the Jewish News Syndicate.
“It is based on exosomes that the body is releasing from the cell membrane and uses for intercellular communication. We enrich the exosomes with the 24CD protein, which is known to play an important role in regulating the immune system,” said Arber’s director of laboratory Dr. Shiran Shapira, who has studied the CD24 protein for decades.
The medicine will now move on to additional trial phases, though the hospital sees it as a potential game-changer.
The treatment has attracted such attention that Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussed it with Netanyahu during his recent visit. Netanyahu kept a vial of it in his pocket, revealing it after his meeting with Mitsotakis, and dubbed it a “miracle drug”.
“If you’re infected by corona and are seriously ill and have a lung problem, take this, inhale it, and you come out feeling good,” he said.
Prof. Ronni Gamzu, Israel’s former coronavirus Czar, hailed the treatment as “innovative and sophisticated” and said that the results of the Phase I trial “give us all an expression of confidence in the method.”
Mitsotakis expressed Greece’s willingness to participate in clinical trials.
“Assuming that we can overcome the regulatory hurdles, Greece would be happy to participate in clinical trials,” he said, adding “We would all be very relieved if we could find a drug that could cure the disease itself.”
