Although there could be an
extreme impulse to fast forward treatments in a pandemic setting, it is very
important to conduct adequate safety checks on investigational drugs and vaccines.
The treatment cannot be worse than the disease itself.
This is where repurposed drugs (existing
drugs that are investigated for new therapeutic purposes) have an advantage as
they often have extensive safety date backing them and are amenable to being
fast-tracked. This is also, where biologics (vaccines and antibodies) have
their limitations. Just because a biologic is safe in a primate model, by no
means proves that it is going to be safe in humans.
Let us not forget the PAREXEL
trial that went catastrophically wrong more than 14 years ago, when eight
healthy young men took part in a clinical trial of an experimental leukaemia
drug, TGN1412. The drug that had been shown to be safe in monkeys however led to
the men fighting for their lives soon after treatment and has left some with permanent
immune issues.
Having a safe treatment is
especially vital in COVID-19 management when approximately 80% of people
testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 may only get a mild disease.
Reference
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17256444/
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