Lab experiments show anti-parasitic drug, Ivermectin, eliminates SARS-CoV-2 in cells in 48 hours

Monash scientists have shown that an anti-parasitic drug already available around the world can kill the virus within 48 hours.

This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses.

Scientists from the Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) showed that a single dose of the drug, Ivermectin, could stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus growing in cell culture. Read the full story on the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) website.

This Monash University-led collaborative study was published in Antiviral Research, a peer-reviewed medical journal published by Elsevier. Read the full manuscript here.

Whilst shown to be effective in the lab environment, Ivermectin cannot be used in humans for COVID-19 until further testing and clinical trials have been completed to confirm the effectiveness of the drug at levels safe for human dosing.  The potential use of Ivermectin to combat COVID-19 remains unproven, and depends on funding to progress the work into the next stages.

For any medical questions you have about your health, please consult your health care provider.