Medics says peptoids hold the key to defeating coronavirus, with Stanford University’s Dr Annelise Barron claiming they are “almost as easy to make as bread” in what could be a big breakthrough
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Doctors believe they have developed a drug that could potentially cure Covid-19 and finally kill off sexually transmitted infections.
Herpes was successfully treated on mice with the medication that experts says mimics immune system proteins.
Medics believe the small synthetic molecule may even be able to defeat the coronavirus – and many other kinds of infections.
Clinical trials are now expected to be given the green light within months.
They say vaccines alone won’t overcome the pandemic and that anti-viral therapies are just as vital to winning the war on Covid-19.
It may be given to air passengers before a flight to protect them from the deadly virus, it has been claimed.
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Principal investigator Dr Annelise Barron, of Stanford University, US, said: “In the body, antimicrobial peptides such as LL-37 help keep viruses, bacteria, fungi, cancer cells and even parasites under control.
“Peptoids are easy to make. And unlike peptides, they are not rapidly degraded by enzymes, so they could be used at a much lower dose.”
The peptoids are simple and inexpensive to make with an automated synthesiser and readily available chemicals.
Dr Barron added: “You can make them almost as easily as you make bread in a bread machine.
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“Covid-19 infection involves the whole body, once somebody gets really sick with it, so we will do this test intravenously, as well as looking at delivery to the lungs.
“In their studies, a team found two of the peptoids were the most potent antivirals ever identified against MERS and older SARS coronaviruses.”
Dr Barron expects clinical trials to begin within the year.
She added: “If successful, peptoids could be given as a preventative – for instance, before air travel to protect a passenger from Covid-19 – or after an infection takes hold, such as when a person feels the telltale tingle of an oncoming cold sore.”
Dr Barron has sent peptoid samples to experts in other labs to test against a range of viruses.
There have been promising results in lab dish studies against influenza, the cold virus and hepatitis B and C.
Other labs are testing the peptoids as anti-fungals for airways and the gut and as anti-infective coatings for contact lenses, catheters and implanted hip and knee joints.
The findings were presented at an American Chemical Society virtual meeting.
