Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Monday that his government would seek emergency permission for an Israeli-developed nasal spray against COVID-19 that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a “miracle”.
“EXO-CD24 is a nasal spray developed by the Ichilov Medical Center in Israel, with an effectiveness of almost 100 percent – 29 out of 30 – against COVID in severe cases,” Bolsonaro tweeted, two days after speaking to Netanyahu by telephone. , who calls the Brazilian far-right leader a ‘good friend’.
“A request to analyze this medication for emergency use will soon be sent to the (Federal Health Regulator) Anvisa,” Bolsonaro wrote.
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Ichilov Hospital announced two weeks ago that one of the researchers performed Phase One testing – usually the first of three phases of clinical trials – on a nasal spray he developed against respiratory symptoms associated with COVID-19.
– EXO-CD24 is a nasal spray developed by the Ichilov Medical Center of Israel, with a maximum efficacy of 100% (29/30), in severe cases, against Covid.
– Briefly will be sent to ANVISA or analysis for emergency use of the drug. pic.twitter.com/BldSkzYZo0
– Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) 15 February 2021
The researcher, Nadir Arber, reported that he administered the spray to 30 patients with moderate to severe cases of COVID-19, and that 29 of them were released within three to five days.
But the hospital did not say whether a placebo was given to a control group, and has not yet published its findings in a scientific journal.
To be accepted as effective by scientists, new treatments usually have to undergo randomized, controlled, blind clinical trials, which are then shared in a research publication.
However, this did not stop Netanyahu from calling EXO-CD24 a ‘miracle cure’ last week.
Bolsonaro, too, has been keen to embark on experimental treatments against COVID-19, even if health experts question it.
A fierce critic of the closure measures, which he said harmed the economy unnecessarily, he instead vehemently pushed the anti-malarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to fight COVID-19.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak at a joint press conference at the Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem, March 31, 2019. (DEBBIE HILL / POOL / AFP)
He took the latter himself when he tested positive last year, despite the findings of scientists that the two drugs are not effective against the new coronavirus.
Bolsonaro tried to cultivate close ties with Netanyahu.
In one of his first moves after winning the 2018 election, he promised to follow the lead of his political role model, then-US President Donald Trump, and move Brazil’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The South American country opened a trade office in the Israeli capital in 2019, as a harbinger of opening an embassy in the city.