Iran produces new drug to treat COVID-19

As living with coronavirus becomes the new normal, scientists in Iran have made a surprising announcement: they’ve found a drug that significantly reduces COVID-19 symptoms and makes it easier for patients to recover.

Recigen is the name of the new drug that was successfully tried on several COVID-19 patients and helped them recover in a few days.

The new drug in fact is used to treat multiple sclerosis, but it contains special proteins from the interferon family called Beta-1-a that help boost the immune system against viruses.

Scientists at Tehran’s Masih Daneshvari Hospital, who led the project, say their finding was beyond their expectation.

The new finding in Iran comes against the backdrop of the US medical sanctions against Tehran, which restrict Iran’s access to international medicine markets. While condemning the sanctions as inhumane, Iranian officials say the new drug is in fact a side-effect of the US pressures.

Within the past month, coronavirus cases and fatalities both declined in Iran. This led to the reopening of the economy and the restoration of normalcy in the country. For the very same reason, the curve has made a slow upward return.

Health officials in Iran say observing health protocols by the public has declined by 70 percent. They warn that if the trend goes on, a second wave of the outbreak will hit the country by September.

Iranian experts here say necessity is the mother of invention. They say the current pandemic has led them towards self-sufficiency in the medical sector, helping them fill the vacuum caused by the sanctions, and above all, to save the lives of thousands of people.