Prothione, a food supplement that underwent clinical trials in Rwanda has shown good results in treating mild and moderate cases of Covid-19. Early last year, Prothione LLC, an innovative U.S-based pharmaceutical company behind the food supplement moved their drug development clinical trials to Kigali, where they worked together with the Rwanda Biomedical Centre among other local research partners like the University of Rwanda’s College of Medicine and Health to examine the safety and efficacy of the capsules of the Prothione food supplement. The supplement is made up of amino acids including Selenium, Cystine, Glutamine, Glycine, which enable the body to produce its own antioxidant to fight viruses. According to Dr. Vincent Mutabazi, the Principle Investigator of the study, out of the 230 Covid-19 patients who used Prothione during the trial phase, only five developed severe sickness or got hospitalized, but the rest recovered within a period of not more than 6 days. “With the provision of this immune formulation of Prothione, we find that there is a quick resolution of the disease, and that means we are cutting down the amount of the viruses in the body. “When you cut down the amount of the viruses in the body, two things happen: first the patient does not easily infect other people, but also he or she does not move to the severe stage of the disease,” he said. A statement from the institutions that partnered in the clinical trials noted that Prothione demonstrated efficacy to support the immune system and reduce progression of disease. “The safety profile was unprecedented with no difference or clustering of events for a single system compared to placebo,” it read. It added that Prothione not only represents a novel antiviral therapy but also a new class of therapeutics that is accessible, inexpensive, broadly effective, and that has the highest likelihood of immune support. “The risk vs benefit analysis of Prothione capsule is compelling: the ability to dose at all ages without side-effects or drug interactions and no co-morbidity concerns.” The over-the-counter version of prothione called Immune Formulation 200, also called IF200 will soon be available for purchase in Rwanda.
