Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital, including Glib Maznyi, Dr. Rozanne Arulanandam, Zaid Taha and Dr. Elena Godbout (left to right) discovered that a common anti-fungal drug can protect against COVID-19 in laboratory models.Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital have discovered that a common anti-fungal drug can protect against COVID-19 in laboratory models. The drug, called bifonazole, blocks the interaction between the viral spike protein and its cell-surface receptor (ACE2). The researchers made the discovery after screening 1,200 approved drugs using an innovative system that glows when two proteins fused to pieces of a firefly protein interact. They found that bifonazole improves survival of mice with COVID-19 and is effective against several variants.
“We are very fortunate that we now have safe and effective vaccines and treatments for COVID-19, but there is room to improve,” said senior author Dr. Jean-Simon Diallo, senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and associate professor at the University of Ottawa. “We’re continuing to use this powerful technology to screen for even better coronavirus antivirals, as well as drugs to fight cancer and other diseases.”
This study, published in Molecular Therapy, is one of a series of COVID-19 projects initiated by cancer research trainees and staff at The Ottawa Hospital who worked tirelessly in the early days of the pandemic. More than 30 researchers contributed to the project, including co-authors from Ottawa, Calgary and Denmark.
Authors: Taha Z, Arulanandam R, Maznyi G, Godbout E, Carter-Timofte ME, Kurmasheva N, Reinert LS, Chen A, Crupi MJF, Boulton S, Laroche G, Phan A, Rezaei R, Alluqmani N, Jirovec A, Acal A, Brown EEF, Singaravelu R, Petryk J, Idorn M, Potts KG, Todesco H, John C, Mahoney DJ, Ilkow CS, Giguère P, Alain T, Côté M, Paludan SR, Olagnier D, Bell JC, Azad T, Diallo JS.
Funding: This research was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Ontario Research Fund, The Ottawa Hospital Foundation, the Lundbeck Foundation, Kræftens Bekæmpelse, the Brødrene Hartman Fond, the Hørslev Fond, the fabrikant Einer Willumsens mindelegat, the Eva og Henry Fraenkels Mindefond, the Canada Research Chair Program, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Mitacs, Aarhus University, the Independent Research Fund, the European Research Council, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre.
Media contact: Jenn Ganton: jganton@ohri.ca; 613-614-5253
The Ottawa Hospital is a leading academic health, research and learning hospital proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa and supported by The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.
