Reports indicate that the first coronavirus patient in Spain has recovered after being treated with an HIV and MS drug. The patient, 62-year-old Miguel Ángel Benítez, was admitted to the Virgen del Rocio Hospital in Seville, where he received lopinavir-ritonavir, an antiretroviral drug marketed as Kaletra, as per Metro UK citing El Pais.
Lopinavir-ritonavir, a drug with a decade-long history of treating HIV and AIDS, was used in combination with interferon beta, a protein used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis patients, revealed the news outlet.
Infectious diseases head Santiago Moreno at the Ramón y Cajal hospital in Madrid stated that the “SARS-CoV-2 protease is very similar to that of HIV,” an alternative name for the novel coronavirus. “This enzyme is essential for the virus to replicate. The combination of lopinavir and ritonavir inhibits and blocks HIV,” he explained, according to Metro.
Spanish Researchers cautioned that not all coronavirus patients may respond to the treatment as Benítez did. However, an Imperial College London research professor mentioned that wider success with HIV drugs in combating COVID-19 could lead to swift administration to other coronavirus patients.
“There is some evidence from laboratory studies that some HIV drugs might also be active against SARS-CoV-2 and a trial has been underway for a while using these drugs against MERS,” Professor Graham Cooke told Metro, referring to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.
“A number of studies are looking at one drug in particular, Kaletra, but there are no results available yet. If HIV drugs did show an effect, one advantage is that it would potentially be possible to supply them quickly,” he added.