Russia Conducts Trials Of Drug Blocking Parts Of COVID-19 - Medical Biological Agency

Clinical trials of a drug that blocks certain parts of COVID-19 are ongoing in Russia, the first phase is expected to be completed by mid-March, the head of the Russian Federal Medical Biological Agency said on Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st March, 2021) Clinical trials of a drug that blocks certain parts of COVID-19 are ongoing in Russia, the first phase is expected to be completed by mid-March, the head of the Russian Federal Medical Biological Agency said on Monday.

"The unique drug based on the use of microRNAs that block certain sites of the RNA virus, and those sites that copy the virus molecule, this is the so-called RNA polymerase site," Veronika Skvortsova said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The drug will be dubbed Mir-19, the Federal Medical�Biological Agency chief noted.

The effective drug is absolutely safe for humans, it is capable of preventing the most severe forms of the coronavirus infection, Skvortsova assured.

"Taking into consideration that this is a new molecule, it is new and patented and it has no analogues, we are conducting the first phase especially thoroughly, since we need to prove safety already in humans. We will finish the first phase by mid-March and will proceed to working with patients, this means we will proceed to the second phase," Skvortsova added.