Jun 11, 2020 2:05 PM GMT+1
Notes reports of potential surge in CFS-like cases worldwide as a result of COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus
OCALA, FL / ACCESSWIRE / June 11, 2020
/ AIM ImmunoTech (NYSE American:AIM), today announced that it has filed a provisional patent application for, among other discoveries, the use of its experimental drug Ampligen® as a potential early-onset therapy for the treatment of COVID-19 induced chronic fatigue, which shows similarities to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Ampligen®, approved in Argentina, is late-stage in the experimental development pipeline in the U.S.
While there is ongoing and planned research by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other groups to study chronic fatigue in post-COVID-19 patients, the Company believes Ampligen may play an important role in addressing this multi-faceted disease.
Dr. Charles Lapp of Hunter-Hopkins Center, one of the world's leading experts in ME/CFS, who is one of the investigators treating CFS patients with Ampligen under an FDA-authorized open-label expanded access treatment protocol, noted, "It is anticipated that COVID-19 will trigger a large number of CFS cases, providing an opportunity for the medical community to learn more about the onset and pathogenesis of CFS. The investigational immune-modulating antiviral drug Ampligen might have a role to play in this scenario." Although the specific etiology and exact causes of ME/CFS are not known at this time, research suggests there may be multiple variants of the disease with an array of symptoms that often follow severe viral infection. The Institute of Medicine estimates that between 800,000 and 2.5 million U.S. residents live with ME/CFS, and that an estimated three-quarters of these cases were triggered by viral or bacterial infections. Such agents may include the coronavirus, the Epstein-Barr virus, the Ross River virus, and the bacterium, Coxiella burnetii which causes Q fever.
As recently reported in the
Washington Post, researchers are concerned about a potential surge in a CFS-like illness in patients recovering from COVID-19, as similar viral outbreaks in the past have led to increased numbers of post viral fatigue patients. Specifically, the Washington Post article noted that after the first SARS epidemic,
one study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that 27 percent of survivors met the criteria for CFS several years later. As further noted by
Simmaron Research, "…the high numbers of younger people being hospitalized for COVID-19 suggests considerable numbers of people in the prime of their lives may have an ME/CFS-like illness in their future."
Thomas K. Equels, CEO of AIM ImmunoTech, commented, "Worldwide, we may still be in early stages of the pandemic, and yet there are already over 7 million confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide and approximately 2 million confirmed cases in the U.S. alone. As a result, we believe there exists a significant risk of SARS-CoV-2 induced chronic fatigue among the millions of survivors of COVID-19, as we have witnessed in the prior SARS-CoV-1 epidemic. Given the large amount of clinical data already supporting Ampligen in ME/CFS we look forward to the chance to investigate how Ampligen may be of value should there be a surge of COVID-19 induced CFS-like cases worldwide. We also commend the
bipartisan efforts of Senator Markey and other Senators calling for medical research into CFS in the upcoming COVID-19 relief package."
