Indore (Madhya Pradesh): A faculty member at IIT-Indore, along with researchers at the Erasmus University Medical Centre (Erasmus MC)-Netherlands and Institute of Microbial Chemistry-Japan, has identified effective therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.
“It’s a small stretch of a protein (peptide) that might be used to treat—or even prevent—Covid-19,” said Dr Mirza S Baig, associate professor at the Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, IIT-Indore. “The peptide not only has potential as a therapeutic for Covid-19, but it could also be used to keep away people from getting SARS-CoV-2 infections,” he added.
The research by Baig and his team of international collaborators has been published in such reputed scientific journals as ‘Drugs and Virology’.
Interestingly, further studies by his group have suggested that the designed peptide is also effective against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, which are key points in the infectivity of the virus and a high threat currently and in future, as well.
Baig’s group has also screened FDA-approved drugs and repurposed them to treat Covid-19. They have conducted experiments on a ‘xanthine derivative’ which shows high potency against SARS-CoV-2. They mentioned that the drug inhibits enzyme Mpro (which controls the activities of the virus replication complex) of not only SARS-CoV-2, but also other related coronaviruses.
The Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering at IIT-Indore has also done a lot of research on Covid-19. Its faculty member, Dr Hem Chandra Jha’s researches on Covid-19 have also been published in reputed journals.
IIT Indore had also made a vaccine candidate for prevention from Covid-19.
