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  • Preclinical and randomized phase I studies of plitidepsin in adults hospitalized with COVID-19.
    Varona JF, Landete P, Lopez-Martin JA, Estrada V, Paredes R, Guisado-Vasco P, Fernandez de Orueta L, Torralba M, Fortun J, Vates R, Barberan J, Clotet B, Ancochea J, Carnevali D, Cabello N, Porras L, Gijon P, Monereo A, Abad D, Zuñiga S, Sola I, Rodon J, Vergara-Alert J, Izquierdo-Useros N, Fudio S, Pontes MJ, de Rivas B, Giron de Velasco P, Nieto A, Gomez J, Aviles P, Lubomirov R, Belgrano A, Sopesen B, White KM, Rosales R, Yildiz S, Reuschl AK, Thorne LG, Jolly C, Towers GJ, Zuliani-Alvarez L, Bouhaddou M, Obernier K, McGovern BL, Rodriguez ML, Enjuanes L, Fernandez-Sousa JM, Krogan NJ, Jimeno JM, Garcia-Sastre A. Varona JF, et al. Life Sci Alliance. 2022 Jan 10;5(4):e202101200. doi: 10.26508/lsa.202101200. Print 2022 Apr. Life Sci Alliance. 2022. PMID: 35012962 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.

Abstract

Plitidepsin is a marine-derived cyclic-peptide that inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication at low nanomolar concentrations by the targeting of host protein eEF1A (eukaryotic translation-elongation-factor-1A). We evaluated a model of intervention with plitidepsin in hospitalized COVID-19 adult patients where three doses were assessed (1.5, 2 and 2.5 mg/day for 3 days, as a 90-minute intravenous infusion) in 45 patients (15 per dose-cohort). Treatment was well tolerated, with only two Grade 3 treatment-related adverse events observed (hypersensitivity and diarrhea). The discharge rates by Days 8 and 15 were 56.8% and 81.8%, respectively, with data sustaining dose-effect. A mean 4.2 log10 viral load reduction was attained by Day 15. Improvement in inflammation markers was also noted in a seemingly dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that plitidepsin impacts the outcome of patients with COVID-19.

One-sentence summary: Plitidepsin, an inhibitor of SARS-Cov-2 in vitro , is safe and positively influences the outcome of patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

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