Gout Medicine Could Also Battle COVID-19 – FDA Approved and Has Potent Antiviral Properties

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the US and the world, few options are available for treating patients infected with SARS-CoV-2.

But new research from the University of Georgia offers hope for a viable therapeutic to fight the disease that has claimed more than 4 million lives worldwide.

The study, published in Nature’s Scientific Reports, found that probenecid has broad antiviral properties, making it a prime candidate to fight not only SARS-CoV-2 infection, but other common and deadly respiratory viruses such as RSV and influenza. .

Probenecid is an FDA-approved drug primarily used to treat gout, and it’s already widely available in the US. The drug has been on the market for over 40 years and has minimal side effects.

Ralph Tripp, GRA Eminent Scholar of Vaccine and Therapeutic Studies at the University of Georgia. Credit: UGA

“There really is nothing to fight these viruses safely,” said Ralph Tripp, lead author of the study and GRA Eminent Scholar of Vaccine and Therapeutic Studies in UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “This antiviral agent works for all of the RNA respiratory viruses we tested, including SARS-CoV-2. RSV, coronavirus and flu are all circulating in the same season. The bottom line is that you may be able to reduce infection and illness with this one oral drug.

Block Viral Reproduction

Viruses work by co-opting a person’s own cells to replicate and produce more of the virus. Probenecid blocks that replication process, preventing the virus from infecting the individual’s cells.

During clinical development at the pharmaceutical company TrippBio, Tripp showed that the drug acts prophylactically before virus exposure and as a treatment after exposure in animal models against SARS-CoV-2 and influenza. The drug has also been shown to be effective in combating the RSV in vitro, and in vivo studies are underway.

While the drug would primarily be used after a person tests positive for the virus, the prophylactic findings mean that people with known exposures may also be able to take the drug to avoid getting sick.

COVID-19 treatment options limited

The current go-to treatments for critically ill COVID-19 patients, remdesivir and monoclonal antibodies, can only be given through an IV. And by the time a COVID patient needs them, it’s often too late.

“These treatments have seen some effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2, but they are very expensive and very difficult to obtain,” Tripp said. “In reality, there are only a handful of options that can actually be used because of the cost, limited IV usage and lack of access. That’s not very helpful to the world.”

Probenecid, on the other hand, is widely available. GPs can prescribe a pill to patients, and they can pick it up at their local drugstore.

Repurposing drugs already approved to work against one problem is common. Remdesivir, for example, was originally intended to fight the Ebola virus, but when it showed some promise in the fight against the coronavirus, it was turned on to fight COVID-19.

In addition to preventing disease before it starts, probenecid may also increase the effectiveness of other treatments. Probenecid is already being used to increase the potency of some antibiotics, so it’s possible the medication may also work in combination with other COVID-19 treatments.

Now the researchers are investigating which dosage of probenecid could have the greatest impact in fighting viruses in humans. TrippBio will begin clinical trials of the drug within the year.

“SARS-CoV-2, RSV and the flu have a huge impact on health systems around the world,” Tripp said. “Probenecid has a potent antiviral effect against these viruses and it works safely.”

Probenecid is already FDA-approved and has potent antiviral properties against SARS-CoV-2.

Reference: September 10, 2021, Scientific Reports.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-97658-w