Interferon alfa

An immunomodulatory protein.

Phase of research

Recommended by China's NHC Guidelines

How it helps

Antiviral

Drug status

Used to treat other disease

7
Supporting references
0
Contradictory references
67
AI-suggested references
5
Clinical trials

General information

Interferon alfa therapy (5 million U or equivalent dose each time for adults, adding 2ml of sterilized water, atomization inhalation twice daily) is one of the antiviral therapies of COVID-19 recommended by China's National Health Commission guidelines. 

Interferon alfa on DrugBank
Interferon alfa on Wikipedia


Synonyms

Interferon alpha; IFNα; IFN-α

 


Supporting references

Link Tested on Impact factor Notes Publication date
CT Manifestations of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia: A Case Report
Patient

Alpha interferon aerosol inhalation (dose for adults: five million U; add sterile water for injection, 2 mL, twice daily) with oral abidol (200 mg for adults, three times a day)

Mar/06/2020
Risk Factors Associated With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome and Death in Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pneumonia in Wuhan, China.
Patients

10.9 % of patients received this therapy

Mar/13/2020
Experimental Treatment with Favipiravir for COVID-19: An Open-Label Control Study
Patients

Used as an aerosol inhalation (5 million U twice daily) in combination with favipiravir (Day 1: 1600 mg twice daily; Days 2–14: 600 mg twice daily) or lopinavir/ritonavir (Days 1–14: 400 mg/100 mg twice daily). More effective in combination with favipiravir.

Mar/18/2020
Discovering drugs to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
in silico

Vapor inhalation, 5 million U or equivalent dose each time, 2 times/day

Feb/22/2020
An experimental trial of recombinant human interferon alpha nasal drops to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 in medical staff in an epidemic area
healthy human subjects

recombinant human interferon alpha1b nasal drops can effectively prevent COVID-19 in treated medical personnel

Apr/17/2020
Clinical Outcomes and Plasma Concentrations of Baloxavir Marboxil and Favipiravir in COVID-19 Patients: An Exploratory Randomized, Controlled Trial
Small molecule Randomized controlled open trial
Patients 3.62

interferon alpha inhalation (100,000 iu, tid or qid) in combination with lopinavir/ritonavir (400mg/100mg, bid, po.) or darunavir/cobicistat (800mg/150mg, qd, po.) or arbidol (200mg, tid, po.)

Oct/25/2020
The interferon-stimulated exosomal hACE2 potently inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication through competitively blocking the virus entry
ACE2 Protein factor Animal model In vitro Mechanism Mixed substance Extracellular vesicles
Vero E6 cells; HEK293T cells; 16HBE cells; hACE2-mice; (HIV-1/VSV-G) SARS-CoV-2 Spike pseudovirus 18.19

Interferon α/β stimulates ACE2 expression and its localization on the surface of exosomes. Exosomal ACE2 competitively blocks the cell entry of SARS-CoV-2 and inhibits viral infection in vitro and ex vivo. 

May/12/2021

AI-suggested references

Link Publication date
Future perspective: biologic agents in patients with severe COVID-19.
May/03/2020
Experimental study of Forsythoside A on prevention and treatment of avian infectious bronchitis.
Nov/18/2020
In silico and in vitro studies on inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2 non-structural proteins with dual herbal combination of Withania somnifera with five rasayana herbs.
Mar/08/2022
Ergosterol peroxide exhibits antiviral and immunomodulatory abilities against porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) via suppression of NF-kappaB and p38/MAPK signaling pathways in vitro.
Jan/22/2021
The Effect of Recombinant Human Interferon Alpha Nasal Drops to Prevent COVID-19 Pneumonia for Medical Staff in an Epidemic Area.
Jan/13/2021
Therapeutic Effectiveness of Interferon Alpha 2b Treatment for COVID-19 Patient Recovery.
May/12/2022
Long-term application of hydroxychloroquine could not prevent the infection of COVID-19.
Mar/02/2021
Potent and Selective Knockdown of Tyrosine Kinase 2 by Antisense Oligonucleotides.
Feb/04/2021
mRNA Vaccine Protects against Zika Virus.
Dec/10/2021
Antiviral activity of portulaca oleracea L. extracts against porcine epidemic diarrhea virus by partial suppression on myd88/NF-kappab activation in vitro.
Dec/04/2020
Efficacy of High-Dose Nebulized Interferon alpha 2b in Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia.
Apr/02/2022
Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Drugs Used to Control COVID-19 and their Effects on the Renin-Angiotensin System and Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme-2.
Aug/08/2020
Synergistic Interferon-Alpha-Based Combinations for Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 and Other Viral Infections.
Dec/11/2021
Protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection by a mucosal vaccine in rhesus macaques
Apr/28/2021
Antihypertensive drug treatment and susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection in human PSC-derived cardiomyocytes and primary endothelial cells.
Sep/01/2021
Exercise after influenza or COVID-19 vaccination increases serum antibody without an increase in side effects
Jun/03/2020
No Statistically Apparent Difference in Antiviral Effectiveness Observed Among Ribavirin Plus Interferon-Alpha, Lopinavir/Ritonavir Plus Interferon-Alpha, and Ribavirin Plus Lopinavir/Ritonavir Plus Interferon-Alpha in Patients With Mild to Moderate Coron
Jul/14/2020
Potential Adjuvant Therapeutic Effect of Lactobacillus plantarum Probio-88 Postbiotics against SARS-COV-2
Jul/30/2021
Efficacy of ribavirin and interferon-alpha therapy for hospitalized patients with COVID-19: A multicenter, retrospective cohort study.
Jan/28/2021
Oral famotidine versus placebo in non-hospitalised patients with COVID-19: a randomised, double-blind, data-intense, phase 2 clinical trial
Feb/10/2022
Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qingfei Paidu Decoction and Xuanfei Baidu Decoction, Inhibited Cytokine Production via NF-kappaB Signaling Pathway in Macrophages: Implications for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Therapy
Oct/26/2021
Efficacy and safety of pegylated interferon-alpha2b in moderate COVID-19: a phase 3, randomized, comparator-controlled, open-label study.
Aug/21/2021
Role of interferon therapy in severe COVID-19: the COVIFERON randomized controlled trial.
Apr/13/2021
Rare variants in Toll-like receptor 7 results in functional impairment and downregulation of cytokine-mediated signaling in COVID-19 patients
Jan/16/2021
Regulation of IFNalpha-induced expression of the short ACE2 isoform by ULK1
Jun/14/2021
Antiviral drugs arbidol and interferon alpha-1b contribute to reducing the severity of COVID-19 patients: a retrospective cohort study
Aug/11/2021
BCG vaccination induces enhanced frequencies of dendritic cells and altered plasma levels of type I and type III interferons in elderly individuals.
Jul/22/2021
Arbidol is associated with increased in-hospital mortality among 109 patients with severe COVID-19: A multicenter, retrospective study
May/14/2020
Preexisting autoantibodies to type I IFNs underlie critical COVID-19 pneumonia in patients with APS-1
Apr/24/2021
Nafamostat-Interferon-alpha Combination Suppresses SARS-CoV-2 Infection In Vitro and In Vivo by Cooperatively Targeting Host TMPRSS2
Sep/04/2021
Interferon-alpha-2b aerosol inhalation is associated with improved clinical outcomes in patients with coronavirus disease-2019
Dec/30/2021
Potential role of IFN-alpha in COVID-19 patients and its underlying treatment options
Oct/20/2021
Comparative therapeutic efficacy of interferon alpha-2b and combination lopinavir/ritonavir plus interferon alpha-2b against SARS-CoV-2.
Aug/30/2021
COVID-19 convalescent plasma composition and immunological effects in severe patients.
Jan/22/2021
Use of hydroxychloroquine and interferon alpha-2b for the prophylaxis of COVID-19
May/19/2021
Beneficial effect of Indigo Naturalis on acute lung injury induced by influenza A virus.
Dec/21/2020
Anti-IFN-alpha/-omega neutralizing antibodies from COVID-19 patients correlate with downregulation of IFN response and laboratory biomarkers of disease severity
Apr/21/2021
mTOR inhibition and p53 activation, microRNAs: The possible therapy against pandemic COVID-19.
Jun/30/2020
CD169 Defines Activated CD14+ Monocytes With Enhanced CD8+ T Cell Activation Capacity
Oct/28/2021
Intranasal type I interferon treatment is beneficial only when administered before clinical signs onset in the SARS-CoV-2 hamster model
Aug/09/2021
Differential interferon-alpha subtype induced immune signatures are associated with suppression of SARS-CoV-2 infection
Mar/17/2022
Lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon combination therapy may help shorten the duration of viral shedding in patients with COVID-19: a retrospective study in two designated hospitals in Anhui, China
Feb/01/2022
A bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)-vectored noninfectious replicon of SARS-CoV-2
Jul/26/2020
Antiviral Activity and Safety of Darunavir/Cobicistat for the Treatment of COVID-19
Jun/21/2020
Efficacy and safety of pegylated interferon alpha-2b in moderate COVID-19: A phase II, randomized, controlled, open-label study.
Mar/10/2021
Withdrawing mycophenolate mofetil in treating a young kidney transplant recipient with COVID-19
Jun/17/2020
Tofacitinib therapy intercepts macrophage metabolic reprogramming instigated by SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein
Jun/24/2021
Treatment of severe pneumonia due to COVID-19 with peginterferon alpha 2a
May/30/2021
Antiviral effects of human placenta hydrolysate (Laennec ) against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and in the ferret model
Oct/06/2021
IFN-lambda1 Displays Various Levels of Antiviral Activity In Vitro in a Select Panel of RNA Viruses
May/03/2021
Gastrointestinal and hepatic side effects of potential treatment for COVID-19 and vaccination in patients with chronic liver diseases
Nov/05/2021
Neutralizing Autoantibodies to Type I IFNs in >10% of Patients with Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia Hospitalized in Madrid, Spain
Nov/16/2020
A SCID mouse-human lung xenograft model of SARS-CoV-2 infection
Nov/19/2021
Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 by type I and type III interferons
Feb/28/2022
A Network-Based Analysis Reveals the Mechanism Underlying Vitamin D in Suppressing Cytokine Storm and Virus in SARS-CoV-2 Infection
May/11/2020
Broad antiviral and anti-inflammatory activity of Qingwenjiere mixture against SARS-CoV-2 and other human coronavirus infections.
Oct/18/2021
Efficacy and safety of ReDuNing injection as a treatment for COVID-19 and its inhibitory effect against SARS-CoV-2
Jun/24/2021
Development of highly stable and de-immunized versions of recombinant alpha interferon: Promising candidates for the treatment of chronic and emerging viral diseases
Feb/28/2021
Plasma Exchange to Rescue Patients with Autoantibodies Against Type I Interferons and Life-Threatening COVID-19 Pneumonia
Aug/30/2021
Liushen Capsules, a promising clinical candidate for COVID-19, alleviates SARS-CoV-2-induced pulmonary in vivo and inhibits the proliferation of the variant virus strains in vitro
Apr/01/2022
SARS-CoV-2 Is Restricted by Zinc Finger Antiviral Protein despite Preadaptation to the Low-CpG Environment in Humans.
Oct/16/2020
Beneficial ex vivo immunomodulatory and clinical effects of clarithromycin in COVID-19
Dec/07/2020
SARS-CoV-2 Infection Induces Psoriatic Arthritis Flares and Enthesis Resident Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Type-1 Interferon Inhibition by JAK Antagonism Offer Novel Spondyloarthritis Pathogenesis Insights
May/25/2021
Antiviral activities of type I interferons to SARS-CoV-2 infection
Jul/05/2021
Subcutaneous injection of IFN alpha-2b for COVID-19: an observational study.
Oct/02/2020
Anti-IgE monoclonal antibodies as potential treatment in COVID-19
Oct/30/2020
Innate immunity in COVID-19 patients mediated by NKG2A receptors, and potential treatment using Monalizumab, Cholroquine, and antiviral agents
Apr/06/2020

Clinical trials

ID Title Status Phase Start date Completion date
NCT04534725 COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment in Cancer; a Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomised Trial; Recruiting Phase 3 Dec/17/2020 Dec/01/2021
  • Alternative id - Peter Mac ID 20/135
  • Interventions - Drug: Interferon alfa|Drug: Selinexor|Drug: Lenzilumab
  • Study type - Interventional
  • Study results - No Results Available
  • Locations - Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  • Study designs - Allocation: Randomized|Intervention Model: Sequential Assignment|Masking: Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)|Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Enrollment - 2282
  • Age - 18 Years and older   (Adult, Older Adult)
  • Outcome measures - Incidence of COVID-19 in cancer patients using interferon-alpha as prophylaxis without known positive contact with COVID-19 (COVID-19 confirmed by qPCR from respiratory swab)|incidence of any upper or lower community acquired respiratory viral infection assessed using local standard of care testing|incidence of COVID-19 when Interferon alpha is given as post-exposure prophylaxis with a known positive contact or exposure with COVID-19. COVID-19 confirmed by qPCR from respiratory swab .|incidence of death and/or need for invasive or non-invasive ventilation. assessed using medical records|time to clinical improvement or discharge from hospital assessed using medical records|ARM 1: Duration of acute respiratory/ILI symptoms in case of confirmed respiratory infection during the study period. Assessed using patient symptom Diary PRO tool|ARM 1: Time to diagnosis of COVID-19 in case of confirmed COVID-19 diagnosed during the study period (days). Assessed using patient medical records|ARM 1: Time to diagnosis of other respiratory viral infection in case of confirmed other respiratory viral infection diagnosed during the study period (days). assessed using patient medical records|ARM 1: Illness severity in case of confirmed COVID-19 diagnosed during the study period using WHO clinical progression scale|ARM 1: Incidence of unplanned all-cause hospital admission during the study period. assessed using medical records|ARM 1: Incidence of unplanned infection-related hospital admission during the study period. assessed using medical records|ARM 1: Incidence of sero-conversion of SARS-CoV-2 at the end of the study period. assessed using qPCR|ARM 1: Incidence of death from any cause during the study period. assessed using patient medical records|ARM 1: Incidence of testing for COVID-19 during the study period. assessed using medical records|ARM 2 Duration of acute respiratory symptoms in case of confirmed COVID-19 diagnosed during the study period. assessed with PRO and medical records.|ARM 2: Time to diagnosis of COVID-19 in case of confirmed COVID-19 diagnosed during the study period (days). assessed using medical records|ARM 2: Illness severity in case of confirmed COVID-19 diagnosed during the study period. assessed using WHO clinical progression scale.|ARM 2: Incidence of unplanned all-cause hospital admission during the study period. assessed using medical records.|ARM 2: Incidence of unplanned infection-related hospital admission during the study period. assessed using medical records|ARM 2: Incidence of seroconversion of SARS-CoV-2 at the end of the study period. assessed using qPCR.|ARM 2: Incidence of testing for COVID-19 during the study period assessed using medical records|ARM 3: Time to clinical improvement assessed using medical records.|ARM 3: Illness severity of COVID-19, defined as the maximal score on the World Health Organization (WHO)'s clinical progression ordinal scale|ARM 3: change to clinical condition assessed with Karnofsky Performance score|ARM 3: Time to progression to severe COVID-19, defined by WHO ordinal scale|ARM 3: Time to all-cause mortality|ARM 3:Duration of hospitalisation assessed using medical records|ARM 3: Duration of COVID-19 symptoms assessed using patient reported symptom diary.|ARM 3: Duration of oxygen supplementation (days). assessed using medical records.|ARM 3: change in nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 viral load shedding (assessed via qPCR)|ARM 3: Safety and tolerability of selinexor using relevant medical records|ARM 3: incidence of changes in blood results relevant to clinical improvement assessed using medical records|ARM 4: Incidence of all cause death by day 28 and 60|ARM 4: Time to all-cause mortality|ARM 4: Illness severity of COVID-19, defined as the maximal score on the World Health Organization (WHO)'s clinical progression ordinal scale|ARM 4: Incidence of ARDS assessed using medical records|ARM 4: incidence of HLH. assessed using medical records|ARM 4: Duration of hospitalisation. assessed using hospital medical records.|ARM 4: Proportion discharged from hospital. assessed using medical records|ARM 4: Incidence of mechanical ventilation up to day 28. assessed using medical records|ARM 4: Ventilator-free days and proportion who did not receive invasive mechanical ventilation. assessed using medical records|ARM 4: Organ failure free days and proportion who did not develop organ failure. assessed using medical records.|ARM 4: Incidence and duration of ICU admission. assessed using medical records|ARM 4: incidence and duration of supplemental oxygen use. assessed using medical records|ARM 4: Time to clinical improvement defined as National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2) of <2 maintained for 24 hours.|ARM 4: incidence of non-invasive ventilation. assessed using medical records|ARM 4: number of participants alive and off oxygen at day 60. assessed using medical records.|ARM 4: proportion of participants who had improved oxygenation for >48 hours. assessed using medical records|ARM 4: Incidence of adverse events based on the national cancer institute CTCAE v5. Assessed using medical records|ARM 4: incidence of SAEs based on NCI CTCAE v5 assessed using medical records|ARM 4: change in nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 viral load shedding. assessed using qPCR.
NCT04293887 Efficacy and Safety of IFN-α2β in the Treatment of Novel Coronavirus Patients Unknown status Early Phase 1 Mar/01/2020 Jun/30/2020
  • Alternative id - Zhaojp
  • Interventions - Drug: Recombinant human interferon α1β
  • Study type - Interventional
  • Study results - No Results Available
  • Locations -
  • Study designs - Allocation: Randomized|Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment|Masking: None (Open Label)|Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Enrollment - 328
  • Age - 18 Years and older   (Adult, Older Adult)
  • Outcome measures - The incidence of side effects|Time from patient enrollment to clinical remission|Proportion of patients with normal body|Proportion of patients without dyspnea|Proportion of patients without cough|Proportion|The negative conversion rate of new coronavirus nucleic acid|Frequency of serious adverse drug events.
NCT04379518 Rintatolimod and IFN Alpha-2b for the Treatment of COVID-19 in Cancer Patients Recruiting Phase 1|Phase 2 Nov/17/2020 Nov/17/2023
  • Alternative id - I 659920|NCI-2020-02317|P30CA016056
  • Interventions - Other: Best Practice|Biological: Recombinant Interferon Alfa-2b|Drug: Rintatolimod
  • Study type - Interventional
  • Study results - No Results Available
  • Locations - Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York, United States
  • Study designs - Allocation: Randomized|Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment|Masking: None (Open Label)|Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Enrollment - 64
  • Age - 18 Years and older   (Adult, Older Adult)
  • Outcome measures - Incidence of adverse events (AEs)|Kinetics of viral load|Clinical efficacy|Kinetics of changes of the immune subsets and circulating inflammatory mediators in peripheral blood
NCT04320238 Experimental Trial of rhIFNα Nasal Drops to Prevent 2019-nCOV in Medical Staff Unknown status Phase 3 Jan/21/2020 Jun/01/2020
  • Alternative id - Interferon_prophylaxis
  • Interventions - Drug: recombinant human interferon Alpha-1b|Drug: thymosin alpha 1
  • Study type - Interventional
  • Study results - No Results Available
  • Locations - Taihe Hospital, Shiyan, Hubei, China
  • Study designs - Allocation: Non-Randomized|Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment|Masking: None (Open Label)|Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Enrollment - 2944
  • Age - 18 Years to 65 Years   (Adult, Older Adult)
  • Outcome measures - new-onset COVID-19|Number of Participants with coronavirus related symptoms|Number of Participants with adverse effect
NCT04664010 Efficacy and Safety of High-dose Vitamin C Combined With Chinese Medicine Against Coronavirus Pneumonia (COVID-19) Active, not recruiting Not Applicable Feb/06/2020 Jan/31/2021
  • Alternative id - XianInternationalMCH_HXJ
  • Interventions - Drug: Alpha-interferon alpha, abidol, ribavirin, Buzhong Yiqi plus and minus formula, Huhuang Detoxicity Paste, Baimu Qingre Jiedu Paste, fumigation/inhalation of vitamin C|Drug: Alpha-interferon, abidol, ribavirin, Buzhong Yiqi plus and minus formula, Huhuang Detoxicity Paste, Baimu Qingre Jiedu Paste and 5% glucose|Drug: Alpha-interferon, abidol, ribavirin, Buzhong Yiqi plus and minus formula, Huhuang Detoxicity Paste, Baimu Qingre Jiedu Paste and high-dose vitamin C treatment
  • Study type - Interventional
  • Study results - No Results Available
  • Locations - Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
  • Study designs - Allocation: Randomized|Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment|Masking: Single (Participant)|Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Enrollment - 60
  • Age - 18 Years to 70 Years   (Adult, Older Adult)
  • Outcome measures - Recovery time|Time of disappearance of fever symptoms|The rate of conversion from COVID-19 positive to COVID-19 negative|Time of disappearance of cough|Respiratory rate|Blood oxygen saturation|PaO2|PaCO2|The time of obvious improvement as shown on chest CT scans relative to admission|The rate of obvious improvement as shown on chest CT scans relative to admission|Levels of C-reactive protein|Erythrocyte sedimentation rate|Levels of Procalcitonin|Levels of interleukin-6|Levels of interleukin-10|Levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha