Rogan vindicated? Ivermectin Shows 'Antiviral Effect' Against Omicron According to Japanese Study
BY STEPHEN GREEN JAN 31, 2022 11:18 AM ET
Anti-parasite drug Ivermectin shows an “antiviral effect” against omicron and other COVID variants according to research released Monday by Japanese pharmaceutical giant Kowa.
According to Reuters, the firm has been working with Tokyo’s Kitasato University.
While Reuters described the study as “non-clinical,” last June the American Journal of Therapeutics published a meta-analysis of 15 different clinical studies.
That AJT analysis concluded:
Moderate-certainty evidence finds that large reductions in COVID-19 deaths are possible using ivermectin. Using ivermectin early in the clinical course may reduce numbers progressing to severe disease. The apparent safety and low cost suggest that ivermectin is likely to have a significant impact on the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic globally.
The next month, podcast star Joe Rogan took Ivermectin to treat himself for COVID with well-known positive results — something NBC News at the time called a “widely discredited drug.”
That same AJT analysis remarked that “Ivermectin has exhibited antiviral activity against a wide range of RNA and some DNA viruses,” which would seem to be in line with today’s news out of Japan.
Rogan also took unapproved monoclonal antibodies to fight the infection. Last week, the FDA forced Florida to close all of its monoclonal treatment clinics.
Florida has suffered 302 COVID-related deaths per 100,000 residents, putting it at about the middle of the pack. That’s despite having the highest proportion of elderly residents — the most vulnerable to COVID — of any state in the nation.
Kowa has clinical studies into Ivermectin “ongoing,” according to Reuters.