The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), in partnership with the company Microbiológica and the Center for Innovation and Pre-Clinical Tests (CIEnP), is working to develop an antiviral for oral use against covid-19. Research by the foundation showed that the substance, called MB-905, was purified from kinetin and proved to be effective in inhibiting the replication of the Sars-CoV-2 virus in human liver and lung cell lines, in addition to helping to stop the inflammatory process triggered by the virus. The research was published in the scientific journal Nature Communication, and the pre-clinical dossier was forwarded to the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) so that, once approved by the agency, the first phase of clinical trials can be started. Researcher Thiago Moreno, from the Center for Technological Development in Health, one of the main authors of the study, said that “the idea is that we can then fulfill all the necessary steps for the development of this medicine in Brazil, from the planning phase, synthesis, chemical characterization, characterization of the mechanism of action and preclinical studies of safety, tolerability and efficacy. Our goal is for this substance to become an innovative antiviral, developed in Brazil since its conception, with a view to giving us more independence in this type of technology, which would have a high import cost for the country. [Sistema Único de Saúde] SUS”, he explained. The MB-905 substance disorganizes the virus genome and causes a catastrophe in the synthesis of its genetic material (RNA), a crucial process for viral replication. In addition to acting as an antiviral, the substance also managed to curb the inflammatory process triggered by the new coronavirus, which is essential to combat covid-19 as the disease also serves as a trigger for an inflammatory response in the patient’s body. This influenced the research from the start. “We adjusted our substance identification process based on certain assumptions: the substance had to be antiviral; it needed to be antiviral in a target cell, such as cells in the respiratory tract; it needed to work as an antiviral also in cells of the immune system, which the virus manages to invade and destroy, such as monocytes; and would need to reduce the levels of inflammatory markers associated with the viral infection.”, explained ThiagoMoreno. “What I mean is that I’m not looking for an antiviral alone. Like dexamethasone, like aspirin, this product cannot reduce any type of inflammation, but only selective inflammation induced by the virus. We also understand that this can potentially help this substance to have a slightly broader therapeutic window, perhaps by managing to reduce both the antiviral phase and the inflammatory phase associated with the virus,” he said. Results The researchers explained that covid-19 will not be cured with a single drug. According to them, it will be necessary to administer a cocktail of drugs to treat the most severe cases of the disease and those at higher risk, such as patients with comorbidities. Based on MB-905’s mechanism of action, therefore, the group investigated which substances could potentiate the effect of kinetin. The study also identifies advantages of MB-905 over other substances whose clinical benefit has been demonstrated in independent trials. Remdesivir, for example, is injectable, while kinetin will be administered as a pill, allowing the patient to receive the drug as early as possible. In relation to molnupiravir, MB-905 obtained better results in safety tests. As it disorganizes the viral genome without interfering with the cell, kinetin was considered safe.
Agência Brasil
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