London, Europe Brief News – Newly published study showed that cancer drug cuts risk of death for hospitalized high-risk COVID-19 patients.
The study suggests that the drug initially developed in hopes of treating cancer patients could significantly cut the risk of death among hospitalized COVID-19 patients who are at high risk of severe disease.
The findings on the drug, called sabizabulin, were first announced in early April by drugmaker Veru, which submitted an emergency use authorization request last month. If the Food and Drug Administration signs off, it could add another option to the stable of drugs doctors turn to for treating hospitalized cases.
“We have battled this pandemic for two and a half years now, and we are still in desperate need for an effective treatment like sabizabulin to significantly reduce deaths in hospitalized COVID-19 patients,” Dr. Alan Skolnick, the study’s principal investigator, said in Veru’s release touting the publication of results in the journal NEJM Evidence.
Veru gave the drug to 130 hospitalized adults who had an underlying condition that put them at risk of severe COVID-19, including having a compromised immune system or being 65 or older.
In the study, 45% of placebo recipients who got “standard of care” treatment, without sabizabulin, died. By comparison, 20% of the patients who also got Veru’s capsules on top of their other typically prescribed medications passed away.
