Maybe Trump missed his calling as a medical researcher. The president was roundly criticized for pondering whether or not UV light or other disinfectants that have proved effective at killing the Wuhan coronavirus on surfaces could somehow be administered inside the body to treat patients suffering from the disease. During Thursday's coronavirus task force briefing, President Trump asked White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx whether sunlight has been explored as a possible treatment for those suffering from disease, specifically the coronavirus.
"Not as a treatment," Dr. Birx answered the president. "I mean, certainly fever is a good thing when you have a fever. It helps your body respond. But not as, I have not seen heat or ..."
The president cut her answer short. "I think that’s a great thing to look at," the president interjected.
Well, Dr. Birx must have missed the press release, published by the AP on April 20th, announcing the novel treatment developed by scientists at Cedars-Sinai that administers ultraviolet light inside the bodies of patients inflicted with respiratory infections. The research team at Cedars-Sinai is currently working with the FDA to explore an expedited regulatory process to use the treatment as a possible medical intervention for those suffering from the Wuhan coronavirus.
(Via AP)
[Aytu BioScience, Inc. (the “Company”)], a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on commercializing novel products that address significant patient needs announced today that it has signed an exclusive worldwide license from Cedars-Sinai to develop and commercialize the Healight Platform Technology (“Healight”). This medical device technology platform, discovered and developed by scientists at Cedars-Sinai, is being studied as a potential first-in-class treatment for coronavirus and other respiratory infections.
...
The Healight technology employs proprietary methods of administering intermittent ultraviolet (UV) A light via a novel endotracheal medical device. Pre-clinical findings indicate the technology’s significant impact on eradicating a wide range of viruses and bacteria, inclusive of coronavirus.
...
“Our team has shown that administering a specific spectrum of UV-A light can eradicate viruses in infected human cells (including coronavirus) and bacteria in the area while preserving healthy cells,” stated Dr. Pimentel of Cedars-Sinai. Ali Rezaie, MD, one of the inventors of this technology states, “Our lab at Cedars-Sinai has extensively studied the effects of this unique technology on bacteria and viruses. Based on our findings we believe this therapeutic approach has the potential to significantly impact the high morbidity and mortality of coronavirus-infected patients and patients infected with other respiratory pathogens.
Here's a video from the pharmaceutical company providing an overview of how the UV treatment works.
Reporters took to Twitter to mock @realDonaldTrump for talking about UV light killing coronavirus instead of researching it first.
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) April 24, 2020
AP: "Pre-clinical findings indicate the technology’s significant impact on eradicating... coronavirus."
Watch how it works:pic.twitter.com/AszZa1FhaG
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