Cholesterol-lowering drug could see coronavirus treated like common cold, study finds

The drug fenofibrate allowed lung cells to burn more fat therefore depriving the coronavirus of the conditions it needs to survive 

A cholesterol-lowering drug could make coronavirus as treatable as the common cold, scientists have suggested. Researchers at New York’s Mount Sinai Medical Center looked at depriving the virus of nutrients which Covid-19 needs to survive.

They found that fat which accumulates inside lung cells is a key component of what the virus needs to reproduce.

Depriving the virus of these conditions could mean that the virus could be better controlled, with the researchers claiming it could be reduced to something akin to an ordinary cold.

"By understanding how the SARS-CoV-2 controls our metabolism, we can wrestle back control from the virus and deprive it from the very resources it needs to survive," said Prof Yaakov Nahmias from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....