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 ''Escherichia coli'' (),Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. also known as ''E. coli'' (), is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus ''Escher ...

'' in the laboratory of

Charles Weissmann Charles Weissmann (born 14 October 1931) is a Hungarian- Swiss molecular biologist. Weissmann is particularly known for the first cloning and expression of interferon and his contributions to the unraveling of the molecular genetics of neurogen ...

at the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

, in 1980. It was developed at

Biogen Biogen Inc. is an American multinational biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing in the discovery, development, and delivery of therapies for the treatment of neurological diseases to patients worldwide. History ...

, 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 The Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology ( es, Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología, CIGB) is a research institute in Havana, Cuba. It is responsible for creating the Abdala vaccine. The Centre developed the COVID-19 vac ...

of Havana, Cuba, under the name Heberon Alfa R. 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 Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...

, chronic

hepatitis B Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the ''Hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) that affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. It can cause both acute and chronic infection. Many people have no symptoms during an initial infection. Fo ...

hairy cell leukemia Hairy cell leukemia is an uncommon hematological malignancy characterized by an accumulation of abnormal B lymphocytes. It is usually classified as a subtype of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Hairy cell leukemia makes up about 2% of all le ...

Behçet's disease Behçet's disease (BD) is a type of inflammatory disorder which affects multiple parts of the body. The most common symptoms include painful sores on the mucous membranes of the mouth and other parts of the body, inflammation of parts of the e ...

, chronic myelogenous leukemia, multiple myeloma,

follicular lymphoma Follicular lymphoma (FL) is a cancer that involves certain types of white blood cells known as lymphocytes. The cancer originates from the uncontrolled division of specific types of B-cells known as centrocytes and centroblasts. These cells normal ...

, carcinoid tumor,

mastocytosis Mastocytosis, a type of mast cell disease, is a rare disorder affecting both children and adults caused by the accumulation of functionally defective mast cells (also called ''mastocytes'') and CD34+ mast cell precursors. People affected by masto ...

and malignant melanoma. The medication is being used in clinical trials to treat patients with

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

and there are published results in the 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. This drug is also used off-label in cats and dogs, both by injection and orally. The cross-species nature of IFN-α allow it to work in non-human animals, but the period of usefulness is limited by the production of antibodies against this foreign protein.

References

External links

Intron-A Summary of Product Characteristics
* Antiviral drugs Schering-Plough brands Merck & Co. brands {{antineoplastic-drug-stub

See also

References

External links