Atrium Health to start looking for patients for COVID-19 treatment study

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Finding a treatment is one of the major keys to beating COVID-19 and Atrium Health is one of just a few hospitals in the world in a particular study trying to make that discovery.

At the center of their research, the drug called selinexor has been known to kill the virus in lab testing.

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Selected patients will take the drug every other day for two weeks. Doctors say the drug isn’t new and has been used for other treatments.

“This agent has been used for the multiple-myeloma,” Dr. Zainab Shahid from Atrium Health said. “The question is becoming how can we use it for an infection.”

Doctor say they will be looking to enroll one to two patients suffering from coronavirus a week and they are looking for those who are in the early stages of the illness.

Atrium Health is one of 10 sites in the country and 15 in the world that will be studying their results.

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