Recruitment of professionals has begun for a clinical trial that will verify the protective effect of a food supplement against SARS-CoV-2

On July 14, the recruitment of professionals from health centers began in the North and South Metropolitan Area to evaluate the efficacy of the Manremyc® food supplement to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection in personnel with high exposure to the virus.

In total, 315 participants are wanted to be recruited among 3 nodes (Metropolitan Area North and South and Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol). In the first three days from the start of this phase of the study, 24 health system workers had already joined.

Manremyc® is a food supplement based on the oral administration of 14 capsules with Mycobacterium s. manresensis bacilli heat-inactivated, which can reduce the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and, if infected, reduce severity. The MANRECOVID19 clinical trial is being carried out with the encouragement of researchers from the IDIAPJGol North Metropolitan Research Support Unit, Pere Toran and Concepción Violan, from the IDIAPJGol Costa de Ponent Research Support Unit, Betlem Salvador, and from the UBP Occupational Risks of the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital, Joan Matllo. It is coordinated by the researcher Pere-Joan Cardona of the IGTP and managed by the Medicine Studies Unit of the IDIAPJGol.

Scientific evidence suggests that Manremyc® could help minimize that SARS-CoV-2 infection progresses into severe lung infection, given the similarity in the progress of both diseases. The trial will focus on studying the protection of professionals working in healthcare centers, given the high exposure to the virus that causes Covid-19.

The promoter of the study is the Reig Jofre laboratory, which has licensed the distribution of the supplement in the European Union, and is coordinated by the IGTP, under the leadership of Dr. Pere-Joan Cardona.