The diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of COVID-19 depend on scientific research on detection reagents, drugs and vaccines. What is the latest progress in this regard? The international epidemic situation is grim. Which practices of China's epidemic prevention and control can be used for reference by the international community?
On March 17, a press conference on the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council was held in Beijing to introduce the latest development of COVID-19's drug vaccine and test reagent research and development.
Fapilavir and other drugs show good clinical efficacy
Science and Technology Daily reporters were informed at the press conference that the scientific research team has further strengthened the support and services for front-line clinical treatment.
According to Zhang Xinmin, director of the Biological Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology, focusing on blocking the conversion of light and ordinary to heavy, focus on promoting chloroquine phosphate, fapilavir, and traditional Chinese medicine; for the treatment of severe and critically ill patients, focus on promoting the recovery of plasma and tocopherol. Clinical applications of monoclonal antibodies, stem cells, and artificial livers have all made good progress.
"Among them, Fapilavir has completed clinical research and has shown good clinical efficacy." Zhang Xinmin said that Fapilavir was approved for listing in Japan in 2014, and in the clinical study of COVID-19, no obvious adverse effects were found. reaction.
Clinical studies on effectiveness have shown that the Fapilavir test group is superior to the control group in terms of viral nucleic acid conversion, improvement of chest imaging, clinical recovery rate, average time to fever, and time to cough remission. At the same time, in February this year, domestic enterprises have obtained the drug registration approval from the State Food and Drug Administration, and achieved mass production, with a guaranteed supply of clinical drugs.
"In view of the good safety, clear efficacy, and availability of drugs, fapilavir has been formally recommended to the medical treatment group by experts from the scientific research group, and has been formally recommended to the medical treatment group. It is recommended to be included in the diagnosis and treatment plan as soon as possible." Will further promote the application of research results in Wuhan, and in response to the current international epidemic situation, the introduction of drug treatment in China.
In response to a question from the Science and Technology Daily reporter, Zhang Xinmin introduced that stem cell therapy can effectively reduce the severe inflammatory response caused by the COVID-19 virus in patients and reduce lung injury. Prognosis has unique advantages. The results of the treatment showed that stem cell therapy for COVID-19 patients was safe and effective, and generally reached a cure level in 8-10 days.
COVID-19 vaccine development begins to recruit volunteers
China is carrying out the emergency development of COVID-19 vaccine according to 5 technical routes. What is the latest progress?
In this regard, Wang Junzhi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said: "China's COVID-19 vaccine research and development is currently in the forefront of international advancement, and it will not be slower than foreign countries." Security research. In general, a qualified vaccine sample must first be produced and proven safe and effective in animal experiments before it can enter clinical trials.
Wang Junzhi revealed that China has already developed units that have made rapid progress, and have submitted clinical trial application materials to the State Administration of Drug Administration, and have carried out related work such as clinical trial program demonstration and volunteer recruitment. After the State Food and Drug Administration has examined and approved according to relevant laws and regulations, clinical trials will begin.
The role of animal models is critical in the development of vaccines.
Qin Chuan, a researcher at the Institute of Medical Experimental Animals of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said that animal models have played an important role in scientists' understanding of diseases, pathogens, routes of transmission, drug screening, and vaccine development.
What is an animal model? Qin Chuan made a metaphor of the image, which is the COVID-19 "patient" developed in the laboratory. Vaccines and drugs must go through this special "patient" test before they can be used on real patients.
"At present, animal models have played a role in three aspects." Qin Chuan further explained that the first is to clarify the virus transmission pathways and study the possibility of aerosol and fecal-oral transmission. The second is used for drug screening, and the effective patents quickly screened out have been applied to clinical treatment. The third is to verify the effectiveness of vaccines. Currently, eight vaccines have been evaluated for effectiveness at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and some of them have been completed.
University research teams are also speeding up research and development of vaccines. Lei Chaozi, director of the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education, introduced that the Ministry of Education has mobilized the scientific research teams of Xiamen University, Sichuan University and other advantageous universities since the Spring Festival, focusing on the three technical routes of influenza virus vector vaccine, recombinant protein vaccine, and nucleic acid vaccine in parallel to coordinate research Institutions and related enterprises speed up the development of COVID-19 vaccine.
Lei Chaozi said that the influenza virus vector vaccine is expected to complete preclinical research and apply for clinical trials at the end of April. Recombinant protein vaccines have been launched in mice and rabbit animal experiments. Nucleic acid vaccine research will be based on previous technology accumulation and scientific research results. To verify security and effectiveness as soon as possible.
Contribute Chinese wisdom and power to the global epidemic
The COVID-19 epidemic is not only a challenge for China, but also a common challenge facing countries around the world.
"We are war-oriented, use virus mechanism research to guide epidemic prevention and control practices, and vigorously promote the combination of drugs, medical equipment R & D, and clinical treatment; we widely apply high-tech science and technology, and use big data to conduct public opinion trend research; we integrate multidisciplinary strength Strengthen the deployment of scientific research and support for front-line treatment, so that scientific research results are more inclined to the clinical front-line. "Zhang Xinmin said that these prevention and control strategies, technical results and standards have been tested in practice. China upholds the concept of a community of shared future for mankind and is willing to Shared by the international community.
Zhang Xinmin introduced that in terms of knowledge sharing, the Chinese scientific research team first shared the entire viral gene sequence with the World Health Organization. In addition, the National Center for Bioinformatics released the "2019 New Coronavirus Resource Bank", and the National Center for Microbial Science Data released the "Global Coronavirus Data Sharing and Analysis System" to provide support for global viral genome sequence release and virus genome mutation data analysis; Relying on the Chinese Medical Journal Network, the prevention and control of COVID-19 scientific research results sharing and communication platform, as of March 16, 97 types of journals have been launched, and the platform has 661 related field research papers and case reviews, with more than 2 million views ... ...
In terms of drug screening research and development, Zhang Xinmin said that China has disclosed the COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment plan and drug screening results to the world, and key drugs such as fapilavir, convalescent plasma, and Chinese medicine have been provided to the countries involved in the epidemic. In terms of vaccine research and development, many companies or scientific research institutions in China have cooperated with foreign countries to promote the research and development of COVID-19 vaccine.
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