A UK firm has found a possible cure for COVID 19, opening up cash floodgates for three professors wallowing in debt By Henry Kimoli and Agencies.
Almost two decades ago professors Ratko Djukanovic, Stephen Holgate and Donna Davies discovered that people with asthma and chronic lung disease lacked a protein called interferon beta, which helps fight off the common cold. They worked out that patients’ defenses against viral infection could be boosted if the missing protein were replaced.
However, the company failed to secure funding for mass production, leading to massive share drops.
Richard Marsden, Synairgen’s chief executive, said the company had been deeply involved in a trial using the interferon beta drug to help people with chronic bronchitis or emphysema.
“[But] when the coronavirus pandemic emerged, even back in January we realized that we might have an important role to play in defense against this virus,” he said.
“So we set about getting a clinical trial set up in February and March in anticipation of the virus coming to the UK, [and] it did. The trial was in place when people started to fill the hospitals up.
The cure comes at a time when Kenya has reported some 22,597 cases.
It comes as a major relief to the world, badly affected by the deadly virus and meager progress in searching for a cure.
So far, it has claimed 382 lives in Kenya and well over 689,000 deaths worldwide.
