Meet EXO-CD24, the Israeli-made drug 95% effective against Covid-19

The Israel-developed drug could cure Covid-19 in less than a week.

TEL AVIV Israel (Times Media Mexico) – According to the Ichilov Medical Center located in Tel Aviv, experts from this Israeli institution have found a drug that could cure Covid-19 in a few days.

According to the hospital’s information, the drug called EXO-CD24 cured 29 out of 30 patients within 3 to 5 days. The publication indicates that it can be used in moderate and severe patients. It is worth mentioning that this study has just finished phase 1, so more evidence and tests are needed to confirm its efficacy.

What is EXO-CD24?
According to Ichilov Medical Center, EXO-CD24 is “an innovative preparation based on CD24-enriched exosomes, which is administered by direct aspiration into the lungs to eradicate the cytokine storm resulting from the COVID-19 virus.”

Professor Nadir Arber, one of the physicians and researchers involved in the development of this drug, indicated that “Even if the vaccines do their job, and even if no new mutations occur, one way or another, the coronavirus will remain with us. To this end, we have developed a unique drug, EXO-CD24, an unprecedented development. Approximately six months from the time the idea was conceived and the technology invented until it was first tested in humans, in the first clinical phase.”

The EXO-CD24 drug is described as “an innovative, blue-white, target-oriented drug developed based on many years of research in the laboratory of Prof. Nadir Arber at the Tel Aviv Medical Center. The preparation is intended for moderate-severe patients, to prevent deterioration to a difficult situation.”

Dr. Shiran Shapira, director of Prof. Arber’s laboratory, who has been researching the CD24 protein for more than two decades, explained that “the drug is based on exosomes, which are cleavages that are released from the cell membrane and used for intercellular communication. We enrich the exosomes with CD24 protein. This protein is expressed on the cell surface and has a known and important role in regulating the immune system.”

On the other hand, Prof. Arber adds that “the preparation is administered by inhalation, once a day, only for a few minutes, for five days. The uniqueness of the preparation lies in the following facts: a dual mechanism that acts to inhibit the pathway’s action leading to immune storm and multiple cytokine secretion.

“The preparation goes directly to the heart of the storm to the lungs so that, unlike many other preparations in the world that are administered systemically, selectively inhibit a particular cytokine or act more broadly, but cause severe and multiple side effects, EXO-CD24 is administered topically, works broadly and has no side effects. It is an advanced preparation, which can be produced quickly and efficiently and at a very low cost, produced in all pharmaceutical facilities in the country. In a short time, it can supply the total global consumption.”

According to preliminary studies, this drug developed in Israel has cured 30 patients in serious condition. In 29 of the cases, the patients improved between two and three days, and most of these patients were discharged between three and five days, while the other patient took more days to recover.