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Australian scientists discover head lice drug kills coronavirus in lab
By Ashleigh McMillan and Liam Mannix
Melbourne researchers say an anti-parasitic drug commonly used to combat head lice has been found to kill the virus that causes COVID-19 in the lab within 48 hours.
A Monash University-led study has shown a high dose of the common drug Ivermectin could stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus growing in human cells in a dish.
An electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (orange) emerging from the surface of cells (green) cultured in the lab. Credit: National Institutes of Health
However, results in a test tube are a long way from results in a human. Many compounds show promise at early stages of research only to fail later. The amount used in the initial tests is also much higher than a standard human dose.
But the results are particularly interesting because Ivermectin has been widely studied in humans and is considered reasonably safe. It is on the World Health Organisation's list of essential medicines.
The scientists are now hoping to secure funding for further trials.
Dr Kylie Wagstaff, from Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, said that because it is going to be some time until a broadly available vaccine for COVID-19 is ready, a compound like Ivermectin which is available worldwide could "help people sooner" if proven effective.
“Because it’s FDA-approved, if we show enough efficacy in pre-clinical work we can move it straight through to humans," she said. "We’re not looking for safety, we’re just looking for efficacy."
But she warned against people trying to access the prescription-only drug prior to it going through human clinical trials, which would require funding.
"Like every medication, it is prescription for a reason. And it’s not approved for anti-viral use at all. It’s definitely still in the experimental realm," Dr Wagstaff said.
The drug, which is used to treat a range of parasite infections, is one of many being trialled in the race to find a cure for COVID-19. Experimental drugs such as those developed to combat malaria, HIV and Ebola are also being tested.
After reports of the drug's success inside a petri dish circled on Saturday, Victoria's Health Minister Jenny Mikakos reminded the public that it would be "lethal" for people to swallow lice medication.
"We have seen people overseas who have heard about potential developments and ingested drugs which have been used in a completely inappropriate way and died," she said at a press conference.
"There’s no reason to be buying lice treatment unless you’re going to be [using it] on your children’s hair."
The important next step is for scientists to determine the correct human dosage for Ivermectin.
It is not known exactly how Ivermectin works against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, but the drug compound is thought to be an inhibitor of one of the cell's natural processes, which scientists believe is hijacked by a number of viruses to get around the immune responses of humans.
Some RNA viruses use the cell's own transport system to send a protein into the cell's nucleus that blocks the immune system from attacking the virus. Ivermectin targets not the virus but the transport system, effectively blocking the virus's own defences.
“Because it’s directed against the host, it can have effects on the rest of the body. But it’s been around for 30 years, it’s been in hundreds of thousands of people," Dr Wagstaff said.
"Because it targets the cell, we have shown it is quite effective against a lot of different RNA viruses. COVID-19 is an RNA virus. We suspect it uses this same mechanism.”
Ivermectin has also been shown to be effective in lab dishes against viruses including HIV, dengue and influenza.
The study is the joint work of Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and the Peter Doherty Institute of Infection and Immunity, with the findings published in the journal Antiviral Research.
With AAP