Exciting research for a new treatment to fight Covid-19 has been proven successful.
If you contract the SARS-CoV-2 virus, this new treatment could stop the virus from growing.
Prof. Cinatl, the discoverer of the first SARS-CoV virus, and his team found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus manipulates the sugar metabolism of the infected cells to create the sugar building blocks the virus needs to be able to multiply.
This process, known as the pentose-phosphate pathway, is a crucial part of our sugar metabolism that forms the sugar building block, ribose (ribose-5-phosphate), to create new RNA or DNA.
If our cells are infected, the virus can only spread if enough of this sugar building block is available.
Why are the sugar building blocks so important?
Past research shows that virus multiplication relates to the glucose levels in our blood. This is because glucose can easily be converted into ribose – which is the sugar building block viruses are hungry for.
Since dextrose (glucose) strongly encourages the virus to multiply, the researchers proved that modified glucose (deoxy-glucose) stops the virus from multiplying. Since this modified glucose cannot be metabolized by our cells, the sugar building blocks are not available.
Alongside this research, scientists at benfovir are developing a new drug called benfo-oxythiamine. This drug blocks transketolase enzymes, which are the key enzymes of the pentose-phosphate pathway, and as a result, also prevents the SARS-CoV-2 virus from multiplying. Because this drug inhibits the body’s conversion of glucose into ribose, these crucial sugar building blocks are unavailable.
Both solutions to prevent the formation of sugar building block ribose are revolutionary because they are not related to the gene sequence and mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This could quickly improve our ability to fight against the current pandemic.
The pre-clinical testing of benfo-oxythiamine was a success, so benfovir are planning to begin clinical trial testing of the drug in humans.
The future of protecting against pandemics
This process could also be used to fight against all forms of viruses, even unknown viruses that can potentially cause future pandemics. This research is an important contribution to the way we approach treating severe viruses.
At RMDM, we are committed to promoting innovative disease prevention and helping people live healthier lives.
RMDM Pharma is our pharmaceutical division, providing the third link in our comprehensive approach to preventing, detecting and treating cancer and other diseases.
We share mutual interests with benfovir and support their latest developments and research. If you would like to learn more or collaborate on research studies/trials, please get in touch via our contact form.
RMDM is also committed to helping enable early cancer detection. We are working hard to make our PanTum Detect test available in the UK. We are currently discussing potential partnerships with labs and clinics around the UK.
PanTum Detect can detect all cancers via a simple blood test, making it affordable and accessible for a primary care setting.
If you would like to partner with RMDM or find out more about PanTum Detect, please get in touch via our contact form.