Efficacy and Safety of Interferon Alpha-2b in COVID-19: A Systematic Review
Subodh Kumar
, Manoj Kumar Saurabh* and Vikas MaharshiDepartment of Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Deoghar-814142, India.
Corresponding Author E-mail: manojkumarsaurabh@yahoo.co.in
Abstract: Introduction Several drugs have been explored for the antiviral action against COVID-19 disease but none of them has been approved barring few such as Remdesivir which got emergency use authorization from USFDA. Interferon are attractive agents due to their broad anti-viral and immunological properties. Interferon alpha-2b has been recently investigated for this purpose. This study presents a systematic review of all the clinical studies involving Interferon alpha-2b to determine its efficacy and safety. Methods A systematic review of literature was done using relevant terms for ‘COVID-19” and “Interferon alpha”. The studies evaluating the effect of Interferon alpha were identified and included in the study for qualitative analysis. Result and Discussion All four clinical studies have shown that Interferon alpha 2b has efficacy as antiviral agent as shown by different clinical and laboratory parameters. It has also found to be safe and free of any major side effects. Conclusion Interferon alpha 2b is an effective antiviral agent with potential to be use in COVID-19. This drug has already been given restricted use authorization in India.
Keywords: Antiviral Agents; COVID-19; Interferon alpha Back to TOC