TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – MARCH 20: An Israeli Fire Department crew man drives a fire truck before spraying disinfctants to sanitize the entrance to Tel Aviv’s Hospital Emergency Department on March 20, 2020 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Number of coronavirus in Israel continues to jump, after over 200 new cases have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images) COVID-19 patients in four Israeli hospitals will take part in a clinical trial testing a cancer drug’s effectiveness in treating the coronavirus.
The Jerusalem Post reported the drug is called selinexor, which goes under the name XPOVIO in the United States. Selinexor typically has been used to treat myeloma, when cancer forms in plasma cells.
According to Karyopharm Therapeutics, the company that developed the drug, selinexor’s potential in fighting COVID-19 is that it can stop the virus from duplicating and causing an overactive immune system response. Dayana Michel, Karyopham Israel’s senior medical director, told the Post they have tested the drug on animals.
“What we have seen is that in two different experiments, the production of the virus was inhibited by 90 percent at a low dosage,” she said.
The trial will consist of 230 patients in Israel, Europe and the U.S.; the patients selected are in serious condition but not at the point where they need to be intubated. The trial is expected to last three months.
Israel has seen initial success with some of its own COVID-19 treatments; the drug Opaganib was given to two patients, and both saw major improvements in their conditions. Additionally, the use of placental expanded cells has been used on seven Israeli COVID-19 patients; four of them saw improvement in their conditions.
As of this writing, there are 14,882 confirmed cases in Israel and 193 deaths from the coronavirus. The Israeli government has started allowing stores to re-open, including beauty salons and hairdressers.
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