Ghanaian, Ugandan scientists research into COVID-19 drugs

Four scientists — three Ghanaians and a Ugandan — have conducted research into a possible antiviral agent as the drug of choice for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The researchers are Dr Edward Amoah Boateng, a registered specialist surgeon of the Department of Surgery, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi; Mr Richard Owusu Nyarko, a registered senior health practitioner and trainee in medicine and surgery, and Mr Paul Owusu Boateng, a trainee surgeon in China, all Ghanaians, and Mr Ivan Kahwa, a research scientist and pharmacognosist with the Pharmbiotrac Research Centre, Mbarara University, Uganda.

According to a statement issued by the researchers, their research paper on Remdesivir and Favipiravir as the drug of choice for the treatment of the COVID-19 had been peer-reviewed at the international level and approved and published in the World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Comparison

It said they investigated into and compared Remdesivir, Favipiravir, Chloroquine, Hydrochloroquine and Azithromycin as treatments used worldwide for the COVID-19, looking at their mechanism of action and how they affected SARS Cov 2, the causative agent for the novel coronavirus disease.

It said the investigation started on the five drugs from January 2020 and the findings submitted for peer review in March 2020.

Findings

The research concluded that Remdesivir and Favipiravir showed stronger efficacy and potency against the COVID-19.

It said although the drugs showed some amount of adverse effects, their efficacy overweighed the adverse effects in seriously ill patients with COVID-19.

It said those given Remdesivir recovered in shorter days than those who were given Placebo, a medicine or procedure prescribed for the psychological benefit to the patient rather than for any physiological effect.

The researchers, therefore, recommended to the scientific community to accept Remdesivir and also work on Azithromycin, “which, although an antibiotic, has some level of antiviral effects, with powerful synergistic character towards the SARS Cov 2 agent that causes the COVID-19”.

Mr Paul Owusu Boateng and Mr Richard Owusu Nyarko

Lead researcher speaks

Commenting on the work, the Lead Researcher, Dr Boateng, told the Daily Graphic: “After vigorous scrutiny and peer review by world experts, the work was accepted in May 2020 and has been published in the World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.”

He said it had also been accepted by the international scientific research community.

The findings of the research, he explained, had been shared to bigger pharmaceutical and bioscience companies in the United States and Europe, such as the Gilead Sciences — a biotechnology and pharmaceutical company — to review the research to augment ongoing clinical trials being done by Gilead Sciences on Remdesivir as a potential drug of choice for the novel coronavirus disease.

Caution

According to him, even though their research review was of the highest grade and accepted internationally, the public should wait for the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other accredited international boards or authorities to approve any drug of choice for usage in the COVID-19 fight.

“Until then, the public is advised to continue and be serious with the preventive measures outlined by the WHO and their various countries' protocols on COVID-19 prevention,” he said.

On Ghana, Dr Boateng said, the citizenry should adhere to the preventive advice from the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service and the Ministry of Information on the coronavirus disease.