Immunologist Prof. Tasuku Honjo, 2018 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine from Kyoto University, speaking in favour of the off-label use of Ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19.
Prof. Tasuku Honjo said:
I find it very disappointing the lack of proper clinical trials for an existing drug that have been around for so long. It is hard to do clinical trials properly, and it’s very expensive to do large trials.
I heard that Kitasato University is conducting a clinical trial and Kowa pharmaceutical board members are supporting the project, however it has not yet been submitted for approval, this is because the low number of infected people in Japan.
Overseas data show that Ivermectin is effective against covid and also could do as preventive prophylaxis. I think it would be better do do proper trials in Japan, but there are no big pharma companies that want to do this, except for Kowa.
The reason this is the case is simple; it’s because it is not profitable to sell Ivermectin anymore.
The drug was developed decades ago, the patent has expired, and there are many manufacturers of this low price generic.
The huge investment required to do the clinical trial is not profitable for the pharma industry.
However, from the public point of view, if it’s cheap and effective, then the drug is a good option.
I think this is mostly a problem of big pharma sales strategy and interests, but first humanity needs to sort out the problem of human health, to put it bluntly.
The approval of a drug has to be done carefully, but in terms of safety, allowing existing drugs to be used off-label is much different to the unknowns of a newly developed drug. So, we should be more flexible in our approach and use Ivermectin for COVID-19.
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