Schizophrenia Drug Treats Coronavirus, Cause of SARS
According to Chinese and European experts at a conference in China, a drug commonly used to treat schizophrenia prevents and treats SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), the deadly flu-like disease caused by the coronavirus which killed hundreds and sickened thousands in 2003.
In a bit of medical serendipity, schizophrenia drug cinanserin has been reported to inhibit the coronavirus that causes SARS, a flu-like disease which first emerged in the south of China in late 2002. The finding was announced by experts attending a meeting of the Sino-European Project on SARS Diagnostics and Antivirals in China’s coastal city of Hangzhou.
According to the press release, cinanserin was among 15 drugs that appeared effective in preventing SARS: “Cinanserin could be directly prescribed to prevent the SARS disease or treat SARS patients if the fatal epidemic mounts a comeback”, Peter Kristensen, an expert from Denmark’s University of Aarhus, was quoted as saying.
Before subsiding in July 2003, SARS killed 349 people in mainland China and sickened thousands worldwide. Another person died in April in China during a brief outbreak traced to a Beijing laboratory that handled the virus.
