COVID-19

COVID-19 is present in over 200 countries and is causing the biggest economic recession since the 1930s. Five months after its onset, only convalescent plasma (CP) and some anti IL-6 drugs have shown beneficial results. Remdesivir accelerates by 30% the recovery of patients but does not significantly reduce the death rate. All the other experimental treatments (hydroxychloroquine, lapinavir/ritonavir) have failed to show sufficient benefit and some have demonstrated harmful side effects.

It is urgent that new therapeutic agents be tested in rigorous clinical trials so that treatments can be found that will save lives while the world is anxiously waiting for a vaccine.

• • A collaboration between ICAV and the Montreal Clinical Research Institute(MCRI)/Institut de Recherches Clinique de Montréal  (IRCM) is proposing a clinical trial to evaluate the benefits of isoquercetin (IQC) treatment of hospitalized, COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms. On the basis of pre-clinical studies, it is anticipated that treatment will:  
    lower the viral load
  • diminish the over-reaction of the immune system that is responsible for most of the severe symptoms
  • prevent thrombotic complications seen in severely ill patients
  • significantly lower the death rate

Isoquercetin has several competitive advantages:

• it is a broad spectrum antiviral
• it also has anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic properties
• it is given by mouth while convalescent plasma and remdesivir are administered intravenously – a labour intensive and costly procedure that puts nursing staff at greater risk
• it is a natural product present at lower levels in the diets of most people
• it can be produced in large quantities at low cost
• it is available for immediate use in contrast to the months and years anticipated before vaccine(s) become widely distributed