A drug called aviptadil helped Mike Cardenas and other patients at Great Plains Health (GPH) recover from respiratory failure due to COVID-19. Preliminary results showed that it can speed up recovery.
Cardenas admitted that he was initially frightened to take the drug but with his pre-existing condition, he was willing to give it a try. Infectious disease physician Eduardo Freitas and his staff helped Cardenas and his family understand the medication.
“I had really bad trouble catching my breath, I couldn’t catch my breath,” Cardenas said. "Trying out the new drug was kind of scary at first but I wasn’t doing too good. My oxygen levels were pretty bad and I was basically just bedridden and pretty weak. I was willing to do anything and to try anything."
Some early results of patients who were treated with the drug were recently released by NeuroRx, its manufacturer, and they say of the 90 patients who reached 28 days of follow-up, 72 percent of those patients survived to day 28, NTV reported.
NeuroRx has been conducting clinical trials while also allowing for use outside of the trial through the FDA’s Expanded Access Program, which is what GPH is doing.
Recently aviptadil has been branded as Zyesami.
"We are greatly encouraged by these preliminary findings and believe they are indicative of a biologic effect of aviptadil in hastening recovery from Critical COVID-19,” Dr. Jonathan Javitt, CEO of NeuroRx, said. “We expect to discuss with the Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory authorities the submission of an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) so that Zyesami can be available for treating this population that is at immediate risk of death and for which there is no approved therapy."
