Oxford scientists start platinum trial to test treatment for monkeypox

Siga’s Tecovirimat, sold as the Tpoxx brand name, was initially used to treat diseases that are caused by the family of orthopoxviruses that includes smallpox, monkeypox and smallpox by the European Union and the United Kingdom. However, the drug to be used for extreme cases of monkeypox was approved by the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). But there is still very limited data to prove the drug’s effectiveness in treating monkeypox.

It is worth noting that Oxford University team The one who took up this trial project was one of the first recovery trials involving testing the efficacy of four COVID treatments. The trial is led by Sir Peter Hornby, Professor of Emerging Infection and Global Health at the University of Oxford.

The UK government funded the project with a £3.7 million grant. Under the trial, the Oxford team aims to recruit at least 500 participants, who will be given either a fixed dose of tecovirimat or a placebo.

“I hope we can have a result before Christmas, but it depends on the rate of recruitment,” said Sir Peter Hornby, professor of emerging infections and global health at the University of Oxford and director of the new Epidemiology Institute. ,

Read also: Monkeypox update: Virus can live on common household items, says CDC study

The trial has come as a hope for countries that are facing a steady increase in monkeypox cases and are looking for effective monkeypox treatment.

More than 80 countries, where the virus is not endemic, have reported more than 40,000 confirmed cases of the infectious virus. Of those 80 countries, 35 percent of the cases have come from the US. Cases are also increasing continuously in Britain.

The virus is mainly spread through close human contact with an infected person. In the first two days, the infected person begins to show symptoms of fever, rash, pus-filled skin sores, and swollen lymph nodes. It usually takes two to four weeks for a person to fully recover from the virus.

Read also: India’s first indigenous monkeypox test kit launched

In the study, scientists will observe the healing time of skin and mucosal lesions in patients to ascertain the effect of tecovirimat in healing. Along with this, they will also study the reduction in the time taken after the drug until the throat and wound swabs are negative.

Tpoxx manufacturing company Siga started receiving orders for oral tecovirimat this year, despite limited studies on the drug’s efficacy. So far, it has received orders worth $60 million for the drug. As the only approved monkeypox vaccine made by the Bavarian Nordic is running low in supply, Tekovirimat has become the only hope for countries to tackle the rising monkeypox cases.

With input from wire agencies

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