COVID drug shows promise in new study — but will patients ever get access? – CBC

Canadian research shows 1-shot interferon drug curbs severe illness

Feb 11, 2023

A drug aimed at curbing severe COVID-19 is stirring excitement among scientists, given the limited treatments left to beat back serious infections — but some doubt it will ever reach patients.

Canadian research on the drug, called pegylated interferon lambda, is just the latest chapter in a years-long saga to find effective COVID treatments, one that’s been filled with promising prospects, regulatory roadblocks, and ultimately a series of dead-ends as many drugs proved powerless against this ever-evolving virus.

Monoclonal antibodies, once considered life-saving, no longer work against new variants — leaving Pfizer’s antiviral, multi-pill drug Paxlovid as one of the last tools in the toolbox.

Researchers’ renewed hope centres on a different type of drug based on a specific type of interferon — a substance typically made by the body’s own cells to help the immune system fight infections — which appears to hold up against various variants of SARS-CoV-2.

COVID drug shows promise in new study — but will patients ever get access? – CBC

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