Scientists believe a pharmaceutical version of a naturally occurring peptide could protect lungs from coronavirus

While the pharmaceutical industry has mainly focused on developing antiviral drugs that can fight off coronavirus infections and vaccines, one biotech firm is working on a treatment that would protect a patient's lungs from COVID-19's worst effects, Stat News reports.

Scientists now have a clear sense that the virus enters a person's system through ACE2, an enzyme commonly found on the surface of lung cells. One of ACE2's jobs is to prevent inflammation, but when it's interrupted (as it is in coronavirus patients), it can no longer keep a peptide that constricts blood vessels, known as angiotensin II, in check. Normally, ACE2 would fend off angiotensin II by converting it to angiotensin-(1-7), another peptide that relaxes the vessels and reduces inflammation, protecting people from blood clots and oxidation, which some COVID-19 patients have suffered from.

Two scientists, Concepción Peiró, a professor of pharmacology at the Autonomous University of Madrid, and Salvador Moncada, a professor of clinical pharmacology at the University of Manchester, hypothesized that boosting angiotensin-(1-7) could protect patients' lungs, while the immune system took care of the virus on its own. Upon learning this, Rick Franklin, the CEO of Constant Therapeutics, informed the Peiró and Moncada of his company's pharmaceutical version of the naturally-occurring angiotensin-(1-7), and Columbia University is now launching a trial for the drug.

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As usual, the testing period will prove tricky, but there's a growing consensus that combating the unopposed angiotensin II could be a "good technique" in trying to protect patients' lungs from the virus, even if it doesn't stave off the infection itself. Read more at Stat News.