Based on a drug against leprosy
The developer of Novichok plans to release a cure for COVID-19
Leonid Rink, one of the developers of the Novichok combat poisoning system, intends to release an antiviral and immunomodulatory agent Immophone in the near future, capable of fighting COVID-19 and a number of other viral diseases, he told RIA Novosti.
"It works against viral diseases, perfectly restores cells after the work of its immune system, that is, it eliminates the cytokine storm (when the immune system begins to destroy its body – ed.), which, according to many experts, is one of the causes of death from COVID-19," Rink said.
The medicine is based on the drug "Diuciphon" (synthesized in the USSR in 1967). It was intended for the treatment of leprosy and, until the 2000s, as Rink said, was on the list of vital medicines. The new tool eliminates the main drawback of the Soviet development – poor dissolution in water and, accordingly, in blood plasma. The updated medicine was called "Immophone". Inside the drug, the agency interlocutor stressed, a strong foreign antiviral agent "Dapsone" and two methyluracil molecules are combined, designed to activate the metabolism in tissues and stimulate the regeneration process.
In addition to fighting coronavirus, the new drug is intended for the treatment of lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, allergies, leukemia and lung diseases.
According to Rink, to date, the drug has been tested on about 700 elderly volunteer patients.
"There was not a single severe stage and not a single death after infection," the scientist said.
Now his company "Inter-regional Trade and Industrial Association "InterVita" is engaged in the production of experimental batches of a new drug to test its action in various pathologies. Negotiations are also underway with the Ministry of Health and other regulators on the release of pre-filled syringes and droppers to the market. According to Rink, one dose of the drug will cost approximately about a thousand rubles. A large number of investors are ready to invest in financing the industrial production of the drug, the scientist claims.
He noted that the effectiveness of Diuciphone has been confirmed by clinical trials, there are more than 650 publications on the successful treatment of various pathologies with the drug.
Rink admitted that he took up medicines after the cessation of the development of chemical weapons in Russia in the 1990s. Then he and his colleagues found a job in pharmaceutical companies. In particular, the agency interlocutor continued, during two Chechen campaigns, his laboratory at one of the domestic enterprises produced up to 85 percent of the narcotic painkiller promedol for the Russian army.
Also, the scientist, on behalf of the State Institute of Organic Synthesis Technology, worked with the Research Laboratory of Leprosy Immunochemotherapy. The cure for leprosy in those years was produced with a violation of the technical process, so a different chemical formula was obtained at the output, which is why production had to be stopped. After clarifying the circumstances, it was adjusted properly and in 1997, according to Rink, the last patient was discharged from the leprosarium that used this medicine.
"That is, they literally cured this disease (leprosy – ed.)," the scientist said.
In the future, the drug was used for some time as an immunocorrecting agent for the complex therapy of HIV infection and AIDS.
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