After receiving treatment with an HIV and MS drug, the first coronavirus patient in Spain, 62-year-old Miguel Ángel Benítez, has made a full recovery.
According to reports, Benítez was treated at the Virgen del Rocio Hospital in Seville with lopinavir-ritonavir, an antiretroviral drug marketed as Kaletra, in combination with interferon beta, a protein used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
Santiago Moreno, head of infectious diseases at the Ramón y Cajal hospital in Madrid, explained the effectiveness of the treatment, stating that the SARS-CoV-2 protease is similar to that of HIV and the drug combination inhibits and blocks HIV, showing encouraging results against coronaviruses.
While not all coronavirus patients may respond in the same way to this treatment, researchers are optimistic about its potential. Professor Graham Cooke from Imperial College London mentioned ongoing studies on the use of HIV drugs against SARS-CoV-2 and suggested that if successful, these drugs could be quickly administered to other coronavirus patients.