Phase II clinical trial of Niclosamide drug for treatment of COVID-19 patients begins

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Laxai Life Sciences have initiated Phase II trials of the anti-helminitic drug niclosamide for the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, reported The Economic Times.

Ram Vishwakarma, advisor to the director general of CSIR, pointed out that in a screen to identify drugs that can inhibit syncytia formation, niclosamide was identified as a promising repurposed drug by a research group from King's College London, which collaborated in this project.

The syncytia, or fused cells observed in the lungs of patients with novel coronavirus infection, probably result from the fusogenic activity of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and niclosamide can inhibit this syncytia formation, the news source said.

Independently, a collaborative research between CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Jammu and the National Centre for Biological Sciences recently demonstrated that niclosamide was also a potential SARS-CoV2 entry inhibitor, blocking the viral entry through pH dependent endocytic pathway.

Ram Upadhayaya, CEO of Laxai Life Sciences, noted that realising the potential of niclosamide, efforts were initiated last year itself to undertake the clinical trials.

Having received approval from drug regulators, the clinical trial has been initiated this week at different sites and is expected to be completed within eight to 12 weeks, the CSIR said.