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| Plaque Commemorating the Discovery of Ivermectin |
Plaque text:
The synthesis and development of ivermectin by Merck in the 1970s and 1980s provided a breakthrough treatment against infectious diseases transmitted by parasites. This discovery resulted from an international collaboration that screened hundreds of natural products to identify a promising lead compound. Merck scientists synthesized thousands of analogs of this lead and tested them. The result, ivermectin, offered a highly effective treatment for several parasitic diseases affecting a variety of animals. Following its approval for human use in 1987, Merck established a worldwide program to donate ivermectin as Mectizan® to treat onchocerciasis (river blindness), greatly reducing the prevalence of this debilitating disease. In 2015, Merck scientist William Campbell shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his role in developing ivermectin.
The development of this drug could be a fascinating story, but unless someone investigates and writes a book we'll probably never hear just how big a project it was. Drug companies are notoriously inscrutable.
I vaguely remember hearing about river blindness. It's one of those things that makes Africa less than attractive.
There's been a great deal of noise about this drug circulating on the Internet. I have no opinion, though it doesn't seem like a drug developed to fight parasites would be a good choice to combat a viral infection (like COVID-19). Biology is complex, so it might work. On the other hand, biology is complex, so it might kill you. Wikipedia doesn't advise using it:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation has been widely spread claiming that ivermectin is beneficial for treating and preventing COVID-19. Such claims are not backed by credible scientific evidence. Research into its use is ongoing, and multiple major health organizations, including the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the European Medicines Agency, and the World Health Organization have stated that ivermectin is not authorized or approved to treat COVID-19.
Note that they don't say that it doesn't work, they just say the-powers-that-be have not given anyone permission to use it.
1 comment:
From what I've read it works against covid but only for the first 3 days after infection but most people don't know they're infected until past that point. Not like the morning after pill where you know if you got laid last night.
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