Posted on 05/13/2003 10:37:43 AM PDT by riri
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An experimental drug made by Pfizer to treat the common cold may provide a starting point for finding a treatment for SARS, researchers in Germany said on Tuesday.
The compound, known only by its laboratory name AG7088, is not likely to itself be a treatment for severe acute respiratory syndrome, said Rolf Hilgenfeld of the University of Luebeck in Germany, who led the study.
"There are some minor clashes between the inhibitor AG7088 and the structure of SARS coronavirus main protease; therefore, this compound, AG7088, is unlikely to be a drug active against coronavirus infections," Hilgenfeld said in a statement.
"It needs to be modified."
Hilgenfeld and colleagues report in a study to be published in the journal Science that they had modeled a key protein called a protease from the coronavirus that causes SARS. The drug could form the basis for creating a protease inhibitor drug that would interfere with the replication of the virus.
But, all this is premature. It isn't still certain what causes the lung damage.
It's hard to target if the mechanism of pathology isn't even known.
No. It is a polymerase inhibitor with slightly higher spcificity for reverse transcriptase, an RNA polymerase used by retroviruses.
Sars is an RNA virus but is not a retrovirus.
I have read that there are fears from some in the medical/scientific community that PI could cause dangerous mutations. (as if it isn't dangerous enough). My understanding is that people taking the cocktails early on kill some of the virus but not all. Those surviving virus live on to reproduce mutated forms
Also, they are toxic. Some have strange effects on people's weight. They call it "protease paunch". Paunches, buffalo humps in the neck, puffy cheeks among other weird things.
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