Dr. Christos Kyratsous Speaks with TNH about the Efforts to Defeat Coronavirus – The National Herald

Christos Kyratsous. Courtesy of Mr. Kyratsous.

NEW YORK Dr. Christos Kyratsous, Vice President of Research, Infectious Diseases and Viral Vector Technologies at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals spoke with The National Herald about his work and the companys efforts in the fight against the coronavirus. He told TNH that clinical trials of antibodies will begin in early summer.

At the same time, however, Dr. Kyratsous said that the drug Kevzara, a derivative of the Sarilumab antibodies from Regeneron in association with Sanofi, which is marketed for rheumatoid arthritis, is already being tested in New York hospitals to examine its effect on pneumonia. President and Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron Dr. George Yancopoulos also spoke with TNH about the companys efforts.

Dr. Kyratsous urged the public not to be drawn into rumors about medication, while expressing the hope that rising temperatures can slow the spread of the virus and buy time for the scientific community.

TNH: Dr. Kyratsous, lets first talk about Regenerons efforts and where we are at the moment.

Dr. Christos Kyratsous: We can summarize our efforts against the coronavirus in three steps. The first step is to use medicines already available and see if they have an effect on coronavirus. An example of such a drug is Kevzara, which we already make, as it has been been approved in the U.S. and Europe against rheumatoid arthritis. This drug has the ability to block a protein, interleukin. There are some reports that interleukin 6 plays an important role in pneumonia for those who are in the late stages of the illness. We are currently running a clinical trial in many hospitals to see if this drug has an effect on coronary heart disease patients to improve their symptoms. This is the most immediate plan. The long-term plan is the vaccine, which, when available, we hope will be able to provide long-term immunity and protect large populations for many years. The timetable provides availability within one and a half years. In the meantime, now, in both of these solutions is a program of ours to produce antibodies specifically targeted against coronavirus. These antibodies are highly specific and hopefully they can be given to both uninfected people as a prophylactic agent and to already ill patients to reduce coronavirus levels and improve their symptoms. We are in a phase that is almost over with the selection of these antibodies. We had thousands of antibodies and we chose the two that have the most effect. We hope in the next couple of weeks to start producing these antibodies in large quantities to begin clinical trials in humans in early summer.

TNH: Is there a way to fast track some of these drugs into the market, given that the situation is already serious?

CK: Everything depends on the results. You are hearing a lot of rumors right now about various drugs that may be working against coronavirus. What we need to commit to as scientists is that they have all been tested in clinical trials in order to have the data and know what works and what doesnt. This is what we do with the drug over the interleukin I mentioned. We have encouraging evidence, but it must be proven by clinical trial. If the clinical trials succeed then we must work with the FDA to fast track the treatment, as you said, to get it approved.

TNH: Under what conditions can coronavirus become a treatable infection? Can it be completely eliminated in the future?

CK: If everyone is vaccinated around the world and becomes immune, then the coronavirus can be completely eliminated. Vaccines belong to the category of prevention. If it has successful results, you can eliminate it completely. When there are no vaccines, we have to give drugs and antibodies to a large part of the population in order to stop their transmission or to continue utilizing drugs that simply reduce side effects and mortality.

TNH: Currently, the world is hanging on every word from scientists. We saw what happened with the malaria treatment, quinine, without anyone knowing its side effects.

CK: As I told you, there are rumors that they work. Unfortunately, we have not seen sufficient clinical trials for drugs that have shown their efficacy. We have a duty to inform the public responsibly so that they can trust in us and have confidence in us. Drugs must be proven whether they are effective or not.

TNH: The arrival of summer is considered crucial, since the big question is whether higher temperatures will weaken the coronavirus. Should we hope the heat will help?

CK: Although it will not solve the problem for us completely, we hope the weather will help. We have in mind that there were incidents in the Southern Hemisphere countries, so we know firsthand that coronavirus can be transmitted in hot weather. However, if there is a reduction in transmission rates, this will greatly help the Health Systems to cope, while also giving us time to develop medication.

TNH: It should be noted that, by a similar method, your team essentially beat the Ebola virus

CK: We are using exactly the same technologies that we used to make antibodies against Ebola. We have shown in a clinical trial that antibodies work and reduce mortality against this virus. We hope that with the same technologies we will do something similar and the antibodies we develop for coronavirus will prove equally effective.

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Dr. Christos Kyratsous Speaks with TNH about the Efforts to Defeat Coronavirus - The National Herald