Interferon alfa-2b

Interferon alfa-2b is an antiviral or antineoplastic drug. It is a recombinant form of the protein Interferon alpha-2 that was originally sequenced and produced recombinantly in E. coli[1] in the laboratory of Charles Weissmann at the University of Zurich, in 1980.[2][3] It was developed at Biogen, and ultimately marketed by Schering-Plough under the trade name Intron-A. It was also produced in 1986 in recombinant human form, in the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology of Havana, Cuba, under the name Heberon® Alfa R.[4]

Interferon alfa-2b
Clinical data
MedlinePlusa690006
License data
Pregnancy
category
  • US: C (Risk not ruled out)
    Routes of
    administration
    Subcutaneous, intramuscular
    ATC code
    Legal status
    Legal status
    Identifiers
    IUPHAR/BPS
    DrugBank
    ChemSpider
    • none
    ChEMBL
    ECHA InfoCard100.208.165
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    It has been used for a wide range of indications, including viral infections and cancers. This drug is approved around the world for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, chronic hepatitis B, hairy cell leukemia, Behçet's disease, chronic myelogenous leukemia, multiple myeloma, follicular lymphoma, carcinoid tumor, mastocytosis and malignant melanoma.

    The medication is being used in clinical trials to treat patients with SARS-CoV-2[5] although there are no yet published results of those trials on peer-reviewed scientific literature.

    So far, two non-peer reviewed research articles have been published. One study at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, showed evidence of a direct anti-viral effect of Interferon alpha against novel Coronavirus in vitro. The study demonstrated around 10,000 fold reduction in the quantity of virus that was pre-treated with Interferon alpha 48 hours earlier. A second study by universities in China, Australia and Canada analysed 77 moderate COVID-19 subjects in Wuhan and observed that those who received Interferon alpha-2b showed a significant reduction in the duration of virus shedding period and even in levels of the inflammatory cytokine, IL-6. [6] [7]


    Interferon alfa-2b products[8]
    Product Manufacturer Features Special uses
    Alpharona Pharmaclon
    Intron-A/IntronA Schering-Plough
    Realderon Teva
    Reaferon EC GNC Vector
    Reaferon EC-Lipint Vector-Medica liposomal
    Infagel Vector-Medica ointment
    Recolin Vector-Medica
    Altevir Bioprocess subsidiary liquid, free of HSA
    Kipferon Alfarm combination with IgM, IgA, IgG
    Giaferon A/S Vitafarma
    Genferon Biocad
    Opthalamoferon Firn-M with dimedrol eye infections
    Heberon Alfa R BioCubaFarma, Cuban-Chinese joint venture ChangHeber[9][10] severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)[11]

    See also

    References

    1. Nagata, Shigekazu; Taira, Hideharu; Hall, Alan; Johnsrud, Lorraine; Streuli, Michel; Ecsödi, Josef; Boll, Werner; Cantell, Kari; Weissmann, Charles (1980). "Synthesis in E. coli of a polypeptide with human leukocyte interferon activity". Nature. 284 (5754): 316–320. Bibcode:1980Natur.284..316N. doi:10.1038/284316a0. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 6987533.
    2. Weissmann, Charles (2001). "Recombinant interferon - the 20th anniversary". In Buckel, Peter (ed.). Recombinant Protein Drugs. Milestones in Drug Therapy. Basel: Birkhäuser. pp. 3–41. doi:10.1007/978-3-0348-8346-7_1. ISBN 978-3-0348-8346-7.
    3. Mantei, Ned; Schwarzstein, Marco; Streuli, Michel; Panem, Sandra; Nagata, Shigekazu; Weissmann, Charles (1980-06-01). "The nucleotide sequence of a cloned human leukocyte Interferon cDNA". Gene. 10 (1): 1–10. doi:10.1016/0378-1119(80)90137-7. ISSN 0378-1119. PMID 6157600.
    4. Nodarse-Cuní, Hugo; López-Saura, Pedro A. (2017). "Cuban interferon alpha-2b. Thirty years as an effective and safe drug". Biotecnología Aplicada. 34 (1): 1211–1217. ISSN 1027-2852.
    5. EDT, Tom O'Connor On 3/24/20 at 5:34 PM (March 24, 2020). "Cuba uses "wonder drug" to fight coronavirus around the world despite U.S. sanctions". Newsweek.
    6. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/zydus-to-test-use-of-hep-c-med-for-virus/articleshow/75260635.cms
    7. https://www.reuters.com/article/brief-zydus-explores-biologicals-route-t-idUSFWN2C51DU
    8. Dmitrij I. Bairamashvili1 and Mikhail L. Rabinovich2* (2007). "Russia through the prism of the world biopharmaceutical market" (PDF). Biotechnol. J. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-24. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
    9. https://asiatimes.com/2020/04/covid-contenders-viral-drugs-that-offer-hope/
    10. https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/the-famous-cuban-interferon-vs-the-sars-cov-2-coronavirus/
    11. https://amerika21.de/2020/03/238594/interferon-kuba-deutschland


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