Zydus Cadila Desidustat shows efficacy, safety in treating Hypoxia in COVID-19 patients

Ahmedabad: Drug major, Zydus Cadila, has recently announced that the company has received positive results from Phase 2(b) studies of Desidustat in COVID-19 patients conducted at Mexico.

Patients infected with COVID-19 have been reported to display signs of 'Hypoxia' leading to organ failure and death despite the use of antivirals, anti-inflammatory drugs or ventilators. The attack with the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) will cause less and less haemoglobin that can carry oxygen and carbon dioxide. The lung cells have been reported to develop extremely intense poisoning and inflammation, shortness of breath sets in and this can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Patients with ARDS may require mechanical ventilator support to help circulate oxygen in the body.

Speaking on the development, Pankaj R. Patel, Chairman, Zydus Group said, "We are excited to report for the first time, this encouraging data of our novel HIF-PH inhibitor, Desidustat, showing the potential to help prevent acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in COVID-19 patients. ARDS is associated with high mortality rate and Zydus remains committed to further develop this novel therapy for patients suffering from ARDS."

The Phase 2(b) results of this study revealed that Desidustat treatment led to increased red blood cell production and improved oxygen delivery to tissues. None of the hospitalised patients required mechanical ventilator in the Desidustat arm, while 25% of COVID-19 patients on the standard of care arm required mechanical ventilation. Further the level of CRP and IL-6 are reported to predict respiratory failure in hospitalized symptomatic COVID-19 patients.