New pill which 'kills Covid within days' could end repeated lockdowns

It could be rolled out by the NHS and help prevent further waves of the virus

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Martin BagotHealth and Science Correspondent

Olivia BaronSenior Live News Reporter

09:16, 26 APR 2021

File photo dated 03/10/14 of a hospital ward. Around a quarter of UK hospital staff were born abroad, according to new figures showing how immigration has helped stop "almost unimaginable" shortages in the NHS workforce. PA Photo. Issue date: Wednesday December 4, 2019. Around half of the increase in the health and social care workforce over the last decade has been from workers born outside the UK, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. See PA story HEALTH Immigration. Photo credit should read: Peter Byrne/PA Wire — It could be given out on NHS (Image: PA)

A new Covid pill may be the solution to ending repeated lockdowns, scientists have claimed.

It is hoped that the new antiviral, which stops symptoms progressing, could prevent another devastating wave in winter and help us live with the virus.

The new drug, which is currently undergoing UK clinical trials, is expected in six months.

Chief trial investigator Prof Kevin Blyth, of Glasgow University, said: “It would be a huge step forward if antiviral drugs work.

“You don’t have any hospital services being put under enormous pressure because patients never come to the hospital.

“Normal services can function and you don’t have to have lockdown or other draconian control measures.”

Favipiravir was developed in Japan in 2014.

The GETAFIX trial uses a scoring system from 1 to 10 to measure whether it stops Covid patients from becoming more seriously ill.

If shown to work against SARS-CoV-2 - the virus which causes Covid-19 disease - then millions of doses will be handed out on the NHS.

Eventually a daily tablet could “kill” coronavirus if taken within a few days of a positive test.

“Certainly over the next six months we should be able to get an answer,” Prof Blyth said.

“If this drug did work in reducing hospital attendances and the risk of having a bad outcome, then you might want to test it in people who’ve just been exposed.

“You may be able to reduce spread and the risk of outbreaks happening.”

Antivirals stop the virus replicating to prevent disease, but most trials globally are focusing on drugs that treat disease symptoms.

If the phase 2/3 GETAFIX trials shows that Favipiravir works it could be the first antiviral treatment against mild Covid - which make up the vast majority of cases.

Anyone in the Glasgow area can volunteer for the trial as soon as they develop symptoms. A separate trial is also testing the same drug in London-based participants.

Dr Janet Scott, who was previously chief investigator of the GETAFIX trial in its earlier stages, said: “In my view with concerted effort it is possible to have results by the autumn.

She added: “We do need a well tolerated, oral antivirals that can be used quickly, when a person gets their first symptoms.”

Modelling for Sage has warned there could be another devastating Covid wave after summer if vaccination take-up among over-50s does not top 85%.

NHS trials to repurpose existing drugs by proving they work against Covid have already led the world.

British scientists discovered that the steroid Dexamethasone tackled symptoms and cut the risk of severely ill hospitalised patients dying.

NHS England said since the NHS trial results were announced it has already saved 22,000 lives in the UK alone.

The immunosuppressant Tocilizumab has also shown benefit. Remdesivir - an antiviral drug - had a mild benefit in severe Covid cases.

Prof Blyth said: “The drugs that have so far proven to be useful in Covid, pretty much all of them affect the immune system. So your body’s response to the virus.

“Trials like ours and others will be targeted a bit more against the virus.

“This just reflects the fact that we’ve got loads of antibiotics that kill bacteria but we’ve very few antivirals for acute viral illness, whether it’s Covid or anything else.

“Antivirals have not really taken off but diseases like HIV show how effective they can be.”