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Countries across the world are testing various drugs and vaccines to beat the deadly coronavirus. In a similar development, hospitals in New York are testing a heartburn drug as a treatment for coronavirus, the Daily Mail has reported. The report said Northwell Health had tested famotidine, sold in the oral form under brand name Pepcid in the US and the UK. The tests were conducted on 1,1174 patients - including 187 who were critically ill, the report mentioned.
Interim results of 391 patients should be available in a few weeks, a former neurosurgeon in-charge of Northwell's research told Science magazine. The drug attracted attention after doctors in Wuhan found that although one in five COVID-19 patients over the age of 80 were dying, of the survivors, many were taking pills for heartburn, the report said. They observed that the poor elderly people had a higher survival rate. The poor patients consumed famotidine because it was cheaper than omeprazole. Famotidine is sold under the brand name Pepcid and omeprazole is sold as Prilosec.
The report said that doctors in China found that only 14 percent of the elderly people using famotidine died while 27 percent of elderly people on omeprazole passed away.
According to the report, scientists suspect that in COVID-19, famotidine binds to the papainlike protease, an enzyme which helps viruses replicate in the body and stops them replicating. The report said David Tuveson, director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cancer Center, recommended famotidine to his sister, who had coronavirus. He said five of her colleagues who had the infection also recovered recovered after taking over-the-counter versions of famotidine.
