Taiwanese researchers have found that combining an existing immunosuppressant drug with the COVID-19 medication remdesivir could suppress the ability of the virus to replicate, and thus could be a possible new treatment for the disease.
Lee Shiow-ju (李秀珠), an investigator with the Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research at the National Health Research Institutes, said remdesivir was once seen as a promising cure for COVID-19, but it never delivered on that promise.
Taiwanese doctors currently only use remdesivir to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients in need of oxygen therapy and patients put on non-invasive ventilation, Lee said.
Photo: Reuters
Meanwhile, researchers in Taiwan have been trying to take advantage of existing drugs for their known safety profiles to expedite the discovery of effective and safe COVID-19 treatments.
After screening 230 prescription drugs covered by the National Health Insurance System, Lee said her team found that cyclosporine, an immunosuppressant widely used to prevent organ transplant rejection, could significantly reduce infection by coronaviruses.
Cyclosporine suppresses the activity of the immune system by inhibiting the activity and growth of T cells and the production of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a substance in the body that causes inflammation, Lee said.
In particular, IL-6 has been seen as an inflammatory marker for severe COVID-19 infections through its production of cytokines — small proteins that control the activity of other immune system cells.
A sudden increase in cytokines, known as a cytokine storm, can lead to serious inflammatory syndromes, and it has been associated with severe cases of COVID-19. Cyclosporine inhibits the production of those cytokines.
Cyclosporine has been on the market for years, making it highly accessible locally without the need to import drugs from overseas, Lee said.
Moreover, her team has found in simulations using cell lines (cells that are grown and then used to test candidate drugs) that the combination of cyclosporine and remdesivir are more effective in inhibiting coronaviruses from replicating than when the drugs are used separately.
The finding suggests that the combination of the two drugs merits further study as a possible treatment for COVID-19, she said.
However, follow-up clinical trials need to be conducted to prove the initial findings, Lee said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and