Archiv: Markus Hoffmann


26.03.2020 - 09:25 [ Forbes ]

There Is A Drug Already Used In Japan Which May Treat COVID-19, Says New Study

(03.03.2020)

“We knew from our previous work that camostat mesylate was active against other coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV. Therefore, we tested whether it is also active against SARS-CoV-2,” said Stefan Pöhlmann, PhD, Professor in the same institute in Göttingen. “Our study shows that camostat mesylate blocks infection of cells with SARS-CoV-2-like particles and with authentic, patient-derived SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, camostat mesylate inhibited infection of important target cells – human lung epithelial cells,” he added.

26.03.2020 - 08:47 [ Markus Hoffmann, Hannah Kleine-Weber, Nadine Krüger, Marcel Müller, Christian Drosten, Stefan Pöhlmann / biorxiv.org ]

The novel coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV) uses the SARS-coronavirus receptor ACE2 and the cellular protease TMPRSS2 for entry into target cells

(31.01.2020)

Here, we demonstrate that 2019-nCoV-S uses the SARS-coronavirus receptor, ACE2, for entry and the cellular protease TMPRSS2 for 2019-nCoV-S priming. A TMPRSS2 inhibitor blocked entry and might constitute a treatment option. Finally, we show that the serum form a convalescent SARS patient neutralized 2019-nCoV-S-driven entry. Our results reveal important commonalities between 2019-nCoV and SARS-coronavirus infection, which might translate into similar transmissibility and disease pathogenesis. Moreover, they identify a target for antiviral intervention.

(…)

The present study suggests that 2019-nCoV spread might also depend on TMPRSS2 activity and it is noteworthy that the serine protease inhibitor camostat mesylate blocks TMPRSS2 activity (24, 26) and has been approved in Japan for human use, although for an unrelated indication. This compound or related ones should be considered for treatment of 2019-nCoV infected patients.