A combination of lopinavir/ritonavir for the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS will be used on trial basis for the treatment of new coronavirus (nCoV) patients in Vietnam, Tuoi Tre Online reported.

In order to develop a new treatment regimen for nCoV patients, the Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh has approved the project to assess the effectiveness and safety of lopinavir/ritonavir supplementation in the treatment of nCoV patients.

Hospitals, enterprises in Vietnam ensure enough medicines for nCoV treatment. Photo: Duong Ngoc

Lopinavir/ritonavir is known as a fixed dose combination formulation for treating and preventing HIV/AIDS infection.

The scientists in the research group will test in four weeks or more on ten patients. Then, they will report on the effectiveness of clinical, subclinical, and virological responses evaluation as well as the safety of lopinavir/ritonavir use in treating nCoV patients who are under the Ministry of Health’s background treatment regimen.

The Ministry of Science and Technology expects that based on the results of the research, the project team may propose the use of lopinavir and ritonavir in treating nCoV patients.

Vietnam is conducting research on producing nCoV vaccine

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said at a meeting on February 10 that there are currently about 22 units nationwide testing and carrying out research on the production of an nCoV vaccine, Zing reported.

In the mean time, the Ministry of Health also welcomes and encourages all scientific and technological units to engage in biological products and testing equipment production, Long added.

However, the deputy minister said producing preventive vaccine, especially against a new strain of virus, is not easy.

Earlier, on February 7, Vietnam’s National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology under the Ministry of Health announced that it has successfully isolated and grown new coronaviruses in the laboratory.

The successful cultivation of nCoV is the basis for future research and development of a vaccine against the virus and provides more effective preventive measures.

The institute said that this successful cultivation will enable rapid testing of nCoV infections and suspected cases. As a result, Vietnam is capable of testing thousands of specimens every day if necessary.

Currently, Vietnam has more than 1,000 people returning from China. Nearly 500 people making close contact with people infected with nCoV are isolated, monitored and tested.

According to the Ministry of Health, up to now, Vietnam still ensures sufficient biological products for testing.