30.01.2020

The use of medicines - ANAFERON, ANAFERON FOR CHILDREN, ERGOFERON - as part of complex therapy and prevention of infections caused by coronaviruses

In view of the increasing interest and in order to avoid the spread of incorrect information on the use of medicines ANAFERON, ANAFERON FOR CHILDREN, ERGOFERON for the prevention and treatment of infections caused by coronaviruses, The MATERIA MEDICA HOLDING considers it necessary to state:

The novel Coronavirus (provisionally named 2019-nCoV) is a new strain of the coronavirus family, discovered in Wuhan (PRC) at the end of 2019. As a result of infection, people develop acute respiratory tract infection.

Currently there is no medicine for the specific prevention and treatment of the 2019-nCoV virus: the development of such kind of medicine is still underway.

By the beginning of February 7 types of coronaviruses that can infect people have been discovered, including a new one.i

The modern approaches to the prevention of coronavirus infection include non-specific preemptive measures (reduction of contact with patients, use of personal-care products, measures for safe cooking).ii The management of treating patients with coronavirus infection depends on the disease severity and is determined by the doctor. On January 29, 2020, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation approved the Temporary guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of coronavirus infection (2019-nCoV). According to these recommendations, three drugs can be used to treat 2019-nCoV infections: ribavirin, lopinavir / ritonavir, and recombinant interferon beta-1b. Immunosubstitute and possibly immunomodulatory medicines can be effective in the initial presentation of the disease.iii

The MATERIA MEDICA HOLDING conducts the studies of efficiency of ANAFERON, ANAFERON FOR CHILDREN and ERGOFERON for treatment of various infections, including those caused by coronaviruses. In particular, the results of the study of the antiviral activity of ANAFERON against the MERS-CoV coronavirus were demonstrated at the 8th European Immunology Conference, June 29-July 01, 2017 (Madrid, Spain) iv. The data on the effectiveness of the drug against coronavirus, shown in a preclinical study conducted by virologists of a leading research organization in the Netherlands, will be presented in April 2020 in Paris at the ECCMID (30th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases).

The clinical trials have shown that the addition of ANAFERON FOR CHILDREN to the standard therapy of coronavirus infection improved recovery time and attenuated the severity of disease.vi

Nonetheless, our experimental data and clinical findings confirming the effectiveness of our medicines in the treatment of various types of coronavirus cannot be directly extrapolated to coronavirus 2019-nCoV, and therefore we cannot recommend these drugs for the specific prevention and treatment of diseases caused by the virus 2019nCoV.

However, there is no reason to panic: the proportion of coronavirus infection in the structure of acute respiratory viral infections (ARVI) is generally insignificant. The end of winter and the beginning of spring are usually marked with the peak of the disease rate of conventional ARVI and influenza, with seasonal outbreaks every 3-4 years. About two million people die every year on the planet because of the ARVI and influenza complications. Therefore, we think it is necessary to recall the importance of the prevention and timely treatment of viral infections, including the use of ANAFERON, ANAFERON FOR CHILDREN, ERGOFERON.

The efficacy and safety of these drugs has been repeatedly confirmed in numerous Russian and international randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials. According to the results, ANAFERON, ANAFERON FOR CHILDREN, ERGOFERON have an antiviral activity, including against type A influenza virus (H1N1, H3N2, H3N8) and rhinovirus. According to the Research Institute of Influenza, in the first 4 weeks of 2020 type A flu (H1N1, H3N2) is also detected in Russia. vii


i https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/types.html

ii https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public

iii Temporary guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of coronavirus infection (2019-nCoV)

iv Emelyanova AG et al., J Clin Cell Immunol 2017, 8:3(Suppl) DOI: 10.4172/2155-9899-C1-036 Osidak L.V., Muradyan A.Ya., Rumel N.B., Drinevsky V.P. Coronavirus infection (etiology, epidemiology, clinical and laboratory characteristics, antiviral therapy). A Manual for doctors. SPb., 2007: 64p

vi Dondurey E.A., Osidak L.V., Golovacheva E.G., Danini G.V., Drinevsky V.P., Elfimova U.V. et al. Study of the drug “Anaferon for children” clinical efficacy in children with coronavirus infection. Files V int. Congr. “Evidence based medicine is the cornerstone of modern healthcare.” Khabarovsk, 2006; 1: 101-105.

vii http://www.influenza.spb.ru/import/2020_04_ld_ru/file048.pdf