A new treatment developed by an Israeli hospital could offer hope for thousands of hospitalized coronavirus patients.
Officials at Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv announced Friday morning that the medication, named EXO-CD24, which is being tested at the hospital has shown promising results, with an estimated 95% effectiveness in treating the coronavirus.
The drug is designed to treat moderate and serious cases of the coronavirus, and is given to patients via inhalation directly into the lungs.
In the first stage of testing, 30 patients in serious or moderate condition were given EXO-CD24 and observed for changes to their condition.
Of the 30 test subjects, 29 showed significant improvement in the three to five days immediately after they received the medication.
The 30th subject also showed significant improvement, but after the initial five-day period.
Prof. Nadir Arber of Ichilov’s Integrated Cancer Prevention Center said the medication will serve an important role in combating the pandemic, even after the mass vaccination campaign is completed.
‘Even if the vaccines do their job, and even if there aren’t any new mutations, one way or another, the coronavirus will be staying with us. That’s why we developed this special medication: EXO-CD24. This is unprecedented. It’s been about half a year from the time the idea was hatched and the technologies created, to the first human trials conducted and phase one of testing completed.”