Artemisinin antimalarial drug promise cure for Covid 19

In vitro suppression of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, 2 has
been established using artemisinin-based combination treatments (ACTs) (SARS-
CoV-2). Artemisinins have also been found to have anti-inflammatory properties,
such as inhibiting interleukin-6 (IL-6), which is a crucial factor in the development
of severe coronavirus illness (COVID-19). There is currently enough data that
ACTs, particularly artesunate/pyronaridine, are efficacious against COVID-19
infections to justify clinical trials.

 Drug repurposing speeds up the discovery of new treatments.
Using a medication that works for one sickness to treat a condition that is unrelated
to it can alleviate pain and save lives. Antimalarials are a prime example of such
achievements. In 1918, when quinidine was isolated from cinchona alkaloids,
Walter Frey concluded that it was the most efficient of the four cinchona alkaloids
based on prior empirical studies on its antiarrhythmic effects. Because he noted that
when he took quinine to combat malaria, his cardiac abnormalities disappeared, a
merchant recommended looking into cinchona alkaloids to treat arrhythmias.
Quinine had been used to treat discoid lupus erythematosus with mixed results until
Francis Page (a Registrar at the Middlesex Hospital in London) described the
positive effects of mepacrine (an antimalarial agent structurally related to
chloroquine that was used during WWII) in the majority of 18 patients. A few years
later, hydroxychloroquine was employed in a case series of seven patients, many of
whom had not reacted to prior antimalarials but were effectively treated, building on
chloroquine's effectiveness as an antimalarial in the late 1940s.

These examples show how successful repurposing of medicines may result in long-
term medicinal advantages, despite the fact that they were created in less stringentregulatory contexts. The COVID-19 epidemic needs immediate antimalarial
repurposing efforts. Hydroxychloroquine drew the attention of legislators, the
general public, and investigators all around the world. The motivation for
repurposing hydroxychloroquine stemmed from its in vitro activity against SARS-
CoV-2 (the COVID-19 causative agent), its affordability, its well-understood safety
profile in other conditions, and the findings of small uncontrolled studies that
suggested antiviral and clinical benefits in patients. Uncontrolled research and case
series, as previously said, might reveal interventions that may be beneficial,
particularly when it comes to the creation of bigger controlled trials. Current
standards, on the other hand, demand that each novel intervention (even if it uses an
old medication) be thoroughly evaluated, which might result in outcomes that differ
from those of exploratory trials. This is evidenced by the findings of a major,
randomized study for hydroxychloroquine, which found no effect in COVID-19
mortality prevention.