The Egyptian-manufactured drug, Sovaldi, has shown promising results in treating patients with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), according to Dr Adel Khattab of the Supreme Committee for Viruses at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
Khattab said that the two-tablet Solvadi treatment protocol has been involved in clinical trials, started as the pandemic emerged, on treatment methods for the coronavirus. The results of these clinical trials are to be approved soon.
The orally taken medication is basically used to treat the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), and has only minor side effects. The coronavirus belongs to the RNA family of viruses, and is similar to Hepatitis C.
In televised remarks on Saturday evening, Khattab added that the drug is used in Iran and some countries in Latin America.
“Cirrhosis patients, and those with some chronic diseases, used to take Sovaldi, so the advantage of this drug is that it differs from those drugs that the patient cannot take if he suffers from liver failure,” he said.
He noted that Sovaldi is made by local pharmaceutical companies in Egypt, and that there are plans to export it.
Khattab said that the second wave of the coronavirus started in Egypt later than in other countries, due to the country’s warm weather.
