Christina Barkauskas, MD

Christina Barkauskas, MD

Duke University

Research Project:
Testing Tapeworm Drug Against COVID-19 Virus

Grant Awarded:

  • COVID-19 Respiratory Virus Research Award

Research Topic:

  • basic biologic mechanisms

Research Disease:

  • COVID-19

We will study a drug called niclosamide, a formerly FDA-approved tapeworm drug. Reformulated as a nose and throat spray, niclosamide could be an effective preventative and early treatment for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Unlike a vaccine, which provokes a specific immune response against a particular protein on a particular virus, niclosamide targets host cells and exerts indirect anti-viral effects. As a result, niclosamide could function as prophylactic agent against emerging respiratory viruses as well. We will test the anti-viral effects of niclosamide in cell-culture models and in rodent models of infection with SARS-CoV-2 and influenza. These data will provide a preclinical foundation necessary to obtain designation by the FDA for niclosamide as an Investigational New Drug, a crucial step before testing niclosamide in early phase clinical studies in humans.

Supported by the Mary Fuller Russell Fund

Page last updated: June 7, 2024

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