Seeking an Early COVID-19 Drug, Researchers Look to Interferons

These antiviral proteins are produced by the body as a natural defense against viral infections and synthetic interferons might help prevent or treat the beginning stages of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Alakananda Dasgupta

| 9 min read

ifn interferon interferon-alpha interferon-beta synairgen interferon-lambda coronavirus pandemic covid-19 sars-cov-2 innate immune response cytokine inflammation drug therapeutic preventive

Listen with Speechify

0:00

9:00

ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM, INDUSTRYVIEW

Early this year, when COVID-19 was still a localized outbreak in China, Eleanor Fish, an immunologist at the University of Toronto, reached out to colleagues in Wuhan to explore the possibility of evaluating interferon therapy in patients infected with the coronavirus. Fish has been studying interferons (IFNs)—proteins produced by the body in response to viral infections—for close to 35 years, and her previous favorable results with a synthetic version during the 2003 SARS outbreak in Canada prompted the idea.

Fish’s colleagues in China connected her with Qiong Zhou, a physician who was at the time treating COVID-19 patients at Wuhan Union Hospital. Zhou was very receptive to the proposal, Fish recalls. As this was an outbreak, there wasn’t any time to optimize an IFN for use against SARS-CoV-2, and Fish and Zhou had to make do with what was available and what had previously been tried ...

Interested in reading more?

The Scientist ARCHIVES

Become a Member of

Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!

Join for free today

Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

Alakananda Dasgupta
Alakananda Dasgupta is a freelance science journalist based in New Delhi, India, who contributes to The Scientist. She is a medical doctor and a pathologist by training. In 2018, she combined her interests in science and writing and became a science writer. She has done research previously in the field of immunology and is currently writing a book on the subject.
View full profile