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Since April 2020, MedinCell has been working on the effects of this antiparasitic to prevent Covid-19 infection. The phase 2 clinical study reveals encouraging results, "a reduction of 72%", details the company.
When in April 2020, the Montpellier company MedinCell announced that it was working on ivermectin to prevent Covid-19 infection, strong skepticism surrounded its communication. And for good reason, we are then in the midst of a debate on chloroquine, a miracle product for some, quackery for others. "No, ivermectin is not the new hydroxychloroquine. Hydroxychloroquine, we know that it does not work, ivermectin, we do not know", defended a few months later Christophe Douat, president of the executive board of MedinCell , in the columns of Midi Libre.
Ivermectin VS placebo
That day, he reveals the launch of a clinical study. January 2023: phase 2, carried out in Bulgaria, is completed and the company communicates "positive results". "The study, conducted on 399 participants, reached its primary efficacy endpoint with a 72% reduction in Covid-19 infections in the group treated with daily oral administration of ivermectin, compared to the placebo group", summarizes the press release.
A 28 day treatment
Concretely, under the supervision of an independent data monitoring committee based in the United States, ivermectin was administered for 28 days, orally, to a group of 200 people. Meanwhile, 199 others were receiving a placebo. All participants, unvaccinated adults, had been exposed to the virus in the five days prior to their inclusion in the study, through direct contact with a person diagnosed positive for SARS-CoV-2 by a PCR test. 30 people in the first group were infected with Covid, compared to 105 in the second.
No safety signal linked to the daily intake of ivermectin, 200 micrograms/kg on the first day then 100 micrograms/kg per day from day 2 to day 28, was identified during the study.
Towards "a long-acting injection"?
For MedinCell, this study "provides encouraging data demonstrating the efficacy and safety of ivermectin for the prevention of Covid-19 infection after exposure to the virus. It supports the development of a long-acting injectable, which could be an additional tool in the fight against Covid-19", summarizes Christophe Douat.
The study protocol remains to be continued. "Several formulations of ivermectin are ready for clinical batch manufacturing to begin preclinical and regulatory clinical development. We will define our strategy based on this first result and the upcoming full analysis of the study", continues the chairman of the board.
An 11% jump in the stock market
In the meantime, according to Les Echos, the action of MedinCell jumped 11% on Friday January 6 to reach €8,44, even though the research is only at an early stage. The pharmaceutical company, which combines its BEPO technology with active ingredients already known and marketed in order to make treatments "more effective", is closely followed, in particular by the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. Two of its products are in clinical phase 3, one to treat female contraception, the other in malaria. And soon, the one that could help prevent Covid-19.
https://www.midilibre.fr/2023/01/06/cov ... 908542.php
(and almost all the time in all subjects)