Scientists discover the ability of an anti-Covid drug to suppress dangerous types of Ebola

American molecular biologists have discovered that an experimental drug against coronavirus infection (obeldesivir) suppresses deadly forms of Ebola fever when taken long-term.

The researchers said: “Our experiments on cell cultures showed that “Ubildevir” prevents the replication of not only the “Corona” virus, but also three very dangerous filoviruses, including two different forms of the Ebola virus (EBOV, SUDV), and the causes of “Marburg” fever. "This drug for ten days after infection protected all monkeys from certain death as a result of SUDV infection."

This conclusion was reached by a team of American molecular biologists led by Professor Thomas Gaisbert at the University of Texas, while conducting experiments on the drug "Ubildisivir", an experimental antiviral drug. It was developed in 2020 as a more effective alternative to Remdesivir, as one of the first effective drugs for Covid-19.

The drug "Remdesivir", as Professor Gaisbert pointed out, was originally developed as a drug to treat viral hepatitis and filovirus infections, which led scientists to believe that "Ubildevir" would also be able to fight the causative agent of "Marburg" fever and various forms of the "Ebola" virus. . Guided by this idea, the researchers infected liver cell cultures with EBOV and SUDV with MARV, and then monitored the effect of obeldevir on them.

These experiments confirmed that even small doses of the drug significantly slowed the reproduction of the three forms of filoviruses. After being convinced of the drug's effectiveness, the scientists tested its work in experiments on macaque monkeys, which biologists infected with lethal doses of the SUDV virus, and then tried to suppress the infection by taking obeldesivir daily.

Taking the drug for 10 days protected all primates from death, while a five-day course of treatment prevented the death of 60% of the monkeys. As scientists note, the beneficial nature of obledesivir is because the drug slowed the replication of the virus and reduced the severity of the inflammation it causes, giving the animals' immunity a chance to produce antibodies. Similar results, biologists hope, could be obtained when treating people with Ebola and Marburg fever.

The results of scientists' experiments on monkeys were published in the journal Science.