COVID-19: Seaweed extract may be more effective than remdesivir

Dordick, the seaweed extracts may have use beyond COVID-19, and “could serve as a basis for an oral delivery approach to address potential gastrointestinal infection.”The authors of the study researched the possibility of seaweed extract as a SARS-CoV-2 antiviral after studying the shape of the virus particles and how they function to deter a person’s normal antiviral defenses.“It’s a very complicated mechanism that we quite frankly don’t know all the details about, but we’re getting more information,” said Prof. The more successful compounds are the larger sulfated polysaccharides that offer a greater number of sites on the molecules to trap the virus.”While promising in theory, researchers need to corroborate the findings in living human cells to see if the extracts can form the basis of a new SARS-CoV-2 antiviral drug.This live article covers developments regarding the coronavirus and COVID-19.