An experimental HIV drug Leronlimab that has been used to successfully treat Coronavirus (COVID-19) patients is in its second phase of testing with the Food and Drug Administration.
According to a report by NY Post, the drug could potentially be approved for use in four weeks.
Leronlimab, made by the biotech company CytoDyn, was used to treat a handful of severely ill patients in New York City hospitals; a couple were able to be removed from their ventilators.
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“I think the FDA will be willing to work with us,” CytoDyn CEO Nader Pourhassan told The Post. “I am hoping it will be expedited … I don’t see how the FDA couldn’t approve it.”
“With a study in China indicating the mortality rate among COVID-19 patients requiring mechanical ventilators at more than 85 percent, the world desperately needs a therapy that can help this patient population,” Pourhassan added.
Initial studies suggest leronlimab can reduce the overactive immune response, known as a cytokine storm, that can be triggered by the coronavirus infection. Cytokine storms can result in pneumonia and even death.
“ I cried for about five minutes. It was very, very emotional,” Pourhassan told Seattle’s KIRO 7 News after first learning of the results. “We’re hoping we can save millions of lives.”
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