Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ender Volkan Çınar on the vaccine and drug development studies against the coronavirus outbreak

Various antiviral drugs, some used in parasitic infections, antibiotics, and symptomatic treatments are applied in appropriate cases, and there are large-scale drug and vaccine studies initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American National Health Institute (NIH).

Asst. Prof. Dr. Çınar underlined that the vaccine produced within the scope of the COVID-19 vaccine development project initiated by the company Moderna and NIH has begun to be tried and the vaccine to be produced will not be for treatment but protection.

** In a study initiated by WHO, the effects of some drugs that are already in use will be investigated instead of producing a new drug that can take years, and companies such as Sanofi and Johnson & Johnson started the projects to develop their vaccines.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Çınar also explained the methods used in various parts of the world and the methods of using plasma and antibodies in the blood, used in the treatment of the patient, were taken from healthy individuals who had previously had COVID-19 disease and recovered.

There are antibodies produced naturally against the virus and they can bind to viral structures in our bodies. It is possible to produce similar molecules in a laboratory environment as 'monoclonal antibodies' and formulate them as drugs.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Cinar reminded that the structure of the proteins on the surface of the virus is known, and that using rational drug design, scanning and/or designing molecules that can bind and block a viral protein in the most effective way also has significant potential for drug development.

Drug design approaches that will 'trap' the virus can also be considered. “For example, by potentially therapeutically applying the molecule to which the virus binds in the human cell or similar cells, it can be ensured that the virus binds to this 'trap' molecule and not the human cell”, said Çınar.

It was finally stated that some studies have investigated which proteins in the human cell interact with SARS-CoV-2 proteins, and it is recommended that some drugs that can affect these proteins can be used in treatment.