Triple Antiviral Could Be Effective COVID Treatment, Study Suggests

A triple antiviral combination is showing promise in a phase 2 trial of 127 patients in Hong Kong with mild to moderate COVID-19.

The researchers tested a combination of the HIV antiviral lopinavir-ritonavir, the hepatitis C treatment ribavirin and the multiple sclerosis treatment interferon beta-1, and found that the combination suppressed the virus at day seven, five days earlier than in participants given lopinavir-ritonavir alone.

The study showed that early treatment with the triple antiviral therapy is” safe and highly effective” in shortening the duration of virus shedding, decreasing cytokine responses, alleviating symptoms and speeding up the discharge of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19,” the researchers said.  The triple antiviral therapy also rapidly eliminated viral shedding. — James Miessler