COVID-19: Repurposed antibiotic shows promise in mouse model

However, there is still no cure for the coronavirus.Now, researchers from the Pasteur Institute in Lille, France say the antibacterial drug clofoctol shows promise as a potential treatment for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 via a mouse model. According to Dr. Jean Dubuisson, head of the Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille at the Pasteur Institute, and co-lead author of this study, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the objective of this study was to rapidly identify a drug compound that could potentially be tested in a clinical trial. “Indeed, this compound accumulates in human lungs at a concentration much higher than the concentrations showing antiviral activity in cell culture.”Through the study, Dubuisson and his team tested the effectiveness of clofoctol both in vitro in cell cultures and within transgenic mice infected with SARS-CoV-2.