A collaborative study led by Monash University researchers in Melbourne, Australia, has identified a potential drug to fight COVID-19. The drug, called Ivermectin, is already available around the world, and according to the new study, a single dose stops the SARS-CoV-2 virus from growing in cell culture within 48 hours. The study was published today in Antiviral Research.

“We found that even a single dose could essentially remove all viral RNA by 48 hours and that even at 24 hours there was a really significant reduction in it,” says senior author Kylie Wagstaff.

Ivermectin is an FDA-approved anti-parasitic drug. In in vitro experiments, it has been shown to be effective against a broad range of viruses, including HIV, dengue, influenza, and Zika. The new study adds SARS-CoV-2 to this list.

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“In times when we’re having a global pandemic and there isn’t an approved treatment, if we had a compound that was already available around the world then that might help people sooner,” Wagstaff says. “Realistically, it’s going to be a while before a vaccine is broadly available.”

However, the tests conducted in the study were all carried out in vitro. The use of Ivermectin to actually combat COVID-19 in practice would depend on the results of further pre-clinical testing and ultimately clinical trials.

“Ivermectin is very widely used and seen as a safe drug,” Wagstaff says. “We need to figure out now whether the dosage you can use it at in humans will be effective—that’s the next step.”