Georgia will participate in the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) international clinical trial to help find an effective treatment for COVID-19, and will receive access to four experimental medicines used in the process, Deputy Health Minister of Georgia Tamar Gabunia told Rustavi 2 earlier today.
WHO says that based on evidence from laboratory, animal and clinical studies, the following treatment options were selected: Redemsevir, Lopinavir/Ritonavir, Lopinavir/Ritonavir with Interferon beta-1a and Chloroquine or Hydroxychloroquine.
By the end of May we will have all four experimental medicines in the country and the trial will begin,” Gabunia said.
The four options selected by WHO. Photo: WHO.
She said that COVID-19 patients suffering from a severe form of the virus will be able to opt into the trial.
Gabunai says that WHO has set ‘strong criteria’ for participation in the trial and Georgia has selected seven medical institutions for this which are able to treat COVID-19 patients in critical condition.
Tbilisi Hospital of Infectious Diseases will be the flag carrier in the process, supervising other clinics involved in the trial. Doctors will decide which patients may be involved in the trial and”, Gabunia said.
Gabunia said that Georgia managed to contain the spread of the coronavirus with the help of restrictions, and urged people to stick to the recommendations once the restrictions are lifted. Photo: 1TV.
Head of Georgia’s National Disease Control Centre Amiran Gamkrelidze said in March 2020 that Georgia was negotiating with large US biopharmaceutical company Gilead to receive Remdesivir – an experimental medicine that has been used since 2015 against Ebola, which has also been used by Chinese doctors against COVID-19 in some cases.
Gilead has been providing Georgia with anti-Hepatitis C medicines since 2015.
More than 100 countries are working together to find effective therapeutics as soon as possible, via the trial, WHO says.