New Hope for COVID-19 Patients as Two Little Known Drugs Show Impressive Healing Effects in Early Trials
Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Jun 23, 2025 5 hours, 4 minutes ago
Thailand Medical News: Scientists in Mexico may have found an alternative path to helping patients recover from severe COVID-19 by using two under-the-radar medications that can reduce inflammation and prevent dangerous lung scarring. These drugs—collagen-polyvinylpyrrolidone (collagen-PVP) and pirfenidone—were tested in a small group of patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19, and the results were promising enough to warrant serious attention.
New Hope for COVID-19 Patients as Two Little Known Drugs Show Impressive Healing Effects in Early Trials
The research team behind this study included scientists and clinicians from the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Hospital Materno-Perinatal 'Mónica Pretelini Sáenz', Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación 'Luis Guillermo Ibarra Ibarra', National Institute of Genomic Medicine, and Instituto Politécnico Nacional. They examined how both drugs might work through a shared pathway in the body known as the JAK-STAT signaling pathway—a crucial immune system process that controls inflammation.
This
Thailand Medical News report dives into how these two drugs could change the way we manage patients who are at risk of complications and death due to severe COVID-19.
The Cytokine Storm Problem
One of the major threats in severe COVID-19 cases is the so-called "cytokine storm"—a massive and uncontrolled immune response that causes dangerous inflammation and damages the lungs. This often leads to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and long-term lung fibrosis. Traditional treatments like corticosteroids, while helpful, can sometimes fall short or lead to side effects.
The researchers studied 36 hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19. These were divided into three groups: one received collagen-PVP, another pirfenidone, and a control group received only standard treatments like dexamethasone. Those receiving either collagen-PVP or pirfenidone showed significantly better outcomes, including a shorter hospital stay—around 13 days compared to over 24 days in the control group.
Patients treated with these drugs were also less likely to need intensive care unit admission. Notably, glucose levels at discharge returned to normal only in those treated with collagen-PVP, hinting at additional metabolic benefits.
Immune System Reset and Molecular Findings
In laboratory experiments, the scientists tested how collagen-PVP affected immune and connective tissue cells. Using advanced genetic tools, they discovered that the drug turned off many of the genes that fuel inflammation and fibrosis. Interestingly, fibroblasts—cells that help form connective tissue—showed a much stronger response than monocytes, a
type of immune cell.
Pathway analysis revealed that collagen-PVP downregulated signals involved in the IL-6 and IL-8 inflammatory pathways, reduced nitric oxide production (a key player in inflammation), and boosted anti-inflammatory Th2 immune responses. This aligns with how pirfenidone is believed to act, suggesting that both drugs may use a similar mechanism of action through the JAK/STAT pathway.
A Potential Gamechanger for Inflammation Control
Both collagen-PVP and pirfenidone are known for their anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic effects in conditions like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and autoimmune diseases. While pirfenidone is already approved for lung fibrosis, collagen-PVP is still emerging in the medical field. Previous studies have shown that it can reduce levels of key inflammatory markers like IL-1β, TNF-α, and TGF-β1.
In this trial, no major side effects were reported for either drug. This is especially important, as many other immunomodulatory treatments used during COVID-19 (like tocilizumab or ruxolitinib) come with risks of suppressing the immune system too much or causing liver and kidney problems.
Conclusion
This study offers early but compelling evidence that collagen-PVP and pirfenidone could be valuable allies in the fight against severe COVID-19. By targeting the JAK-STAT pathway, these treatments seem to reduce inflammation, improve oxygen levels, and even stabilize glucose metabolism. While further large-scale studies are needed to confirm these findings and determine long-term safety, the results so far suggest that these drugs might provide effective and safer alternatives for managing COVID-19-related inflammation and lung damage. If validated in larger trials, these therapies could become part of mainstream treatment protocols not just for COVID-19, but for other diseases driven by uncontrolled inflammation.
The study findings were published on a preprint server and are currently being peer reviewed.
https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202506.0007/v1
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https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/coronavirus
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