EXO-CD24

EXO-CD24
Researchers in Israel ran a small pilot study on a drug called EXO-CD24 to see if it could tamp down cytokine storms. In February 2021, they announced that 31 out of 35 hospitalized patients were discharged after three to five days of treatment with the drug. But it was impossible to know if the drug helped them, because the trial was not large, blinded, or placebo-controlled. Nor have these preliminary results been published in a journal or posted online.

Nevertheless, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called EXO-CD24 a “miracle drug.” In March, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced that his administration intended to sign a memorandum of understanding to test a nasal spray version of EXO-CD24, which he said could emerge as “the real solution to treating Covid.”