Fluvoxamine

Can an inexpensive anti-depressant treat COVID-19? Researchers are cautiously optimistic

The SSRI drug's anti-inflammatory properties could slow the progression of severe COVID-19, experts say

Finding a possible early treatment for COVID-19 in a 40-year-old antidepressant

Sharyn Alfonsi reports on the unusual path fluvoxamine, a drug commonly used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, has had to becoming an early treatment candidate for COVID-19.

Can Antidepressant Medication Fluvoxamine Prevent Severe Covid-19 From Coronavirus?

What might an anti-depressant medication have to do with the Covid-19 coronavirus? Well, it’s all about the sigma-1 receptor. The sigma-1 receptor may sound like a fraternity or sorority get together, but it isn’t. These receptors are in the cells of your body. Activating these receptors may help reduce cytokine production,

Fluvoxamine data for COVID-19 Treatment

Early research suggests that fluvoxamine, an FDA approved medication for depression and obsessive compulsive disorder, can be an effective early treatment for COVID-19. Fluvoxamine, created 37 years ago, is an inexpensive and widely available generic drug. It's in a class of drugs called Selective Serotonin-Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs).

How a Medication for OCD Ended Up in a Covid-19 Trial

In a small study, the drug kept patients with mild symptoms from worsening. If it holds up in a larger test, it could help keep more people out of hospitals.

Psychiatric Drugs Could Be the Key to Treating Covid-19

Antidepressants and antipsychotics could offer protection against the coronavirus, but not because of their effect on the brain

SSRI Antidepressants May Be Effective Early Treatments for COVID-19

They chose to investigate fluvoxamine because it has strong anti-inflammatory activity. The research team, led by Eric Lenze, director of the Healthy Mind Lab at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, thought the anti-inflammatory properties might prevent cytokine storms, the massive overactive immune response seen in severe cases of COVID-19.

These Drugs Might Prevent Severe COVID

Even with vaccines on the way, treatments are needed to prevent the disease from getting worse—and to be ready for COVID-25, COVID-37, and so on.

With fluvoxamine, doctors find an old drug that may actually work against COVID-19

The results on fluvoxamine were strikingly different. “This is the first drug we’ve tried out that found a significant effect,” Edward J. Mills, who oversees the Together Trial out of McMaster University in Canada, told me. The fluvoxamine patients experienced about a 30% reduction in risk — defined as longer than six hours’ observation in an emergency department or hospitalization — compared with the placebo group.

How a cheap antidepressant emerged as a promising Covid-19 treatment

Most Covid-19 drug treatments that have been included in trials haven’t panned out. A large new study suggests fluvoxamine might be different.

Fluvoxamine

Fluvoxamine is an antidepressant which functions pharmacologically as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Though it is in the same class as other SSRI drugs, it is most often used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder.