A doctor who has been doing extensive lung disease research has warned about a health crisis that could surpass the impacts of COVID-19.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Mail, Dr. Sassan Rafi who studies pulmonary fibrosis for 15 years claimed thousands of hospitalized Americans for coronavirus may endure health risks even after recovery.
Pulmonary fibrosis is now being linked to acute COVID-19 patients who spent weeks on a ventilator. The disease happens when lung tissue is impaired due to aggressive viruses like COVID-19.
Doctors and nurses treat a patient suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the El Tunal hospital, in Bogota, Colombia June 12, 2020. Picture taken June 12, 2020.
Rafi said those patients face higher risks than cancer patients as the stiff tissue makes it more difficult for the lungs to function properly, which can lead to respiratory failure.
The doctor said some patients may become highly dependent on a ventilator throughout their lives while others may require a lung transplant.
Currently, the United States has a surging number of coronavirus cases after having a declining trend for more than six weeks. The U.S. already has over 2.9 million coronavirus cases with more than 130,000 deaths. Recently, new spikes are seen in Arizona, Texas, California, and Florida.
No one addresses pulmonary fibrosis
After studying pulmonary fibrosis for 15 years, Dr. Rafi has founded Upright Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and is developing a compound to tackle the illness. He said his company is working with the University of California in Davis, the University of Michigan, and other institutions to creating a drug stop pulmonary fibrosis and even reverse the damage it brought.
The drug is called the Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase Inhibitor. Inhibiting the enzyme in the cell called the Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase can prevent fibrosis and inflammation of the lungs.
A pulse oximeter is placed on the hand of a patient at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Sotiria hospital, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Athens, Greece, April 7, 2020.
While the drug is not yet FDA approved, Dr. Rafi said his company has already acquired a lot of solid preclinical data and data from animal models. It is also raising funds to further enhance the drug and bring it to clinical trials as soon as possible.
Dr. Rafi said that many hospitalized patients could still die due to fibrosis, even after beating hospitalization, having fluid in their lungs, or even coronavirus.
"It's not just about who is dying acutely from the virus, it's about what's going to come years and years from now, once the virus has gone," said Rafi who is now Upright Pharmaceuticals' chief medical officer.
'Pulmonary fibrosis has a prognosis of three years, which is worse than many cancers, and currently, there is no optimal treatment,' Rafi explained.
He also said that pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive disease that "no one is addressing." "You may be feeling okay, but the fibrosis keeps getting worse and worse," he added.
Rafi's company addresses the disease by scanning the lungs. When they see fibrosis in the lungs, it means their lives may not return to normal. "That's the point of no return," Rafi said.
Upright Pharmaceuticals CEO Andrew Young agreed with Rafi and said the potential enormity of the disease is a huge concern.
According to Young, 40% of acute coronavirus patients will experience an extreme immune response or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which leads to pulmonary fibrosis. Based on the recent data, there are 20% severe ARDS cases.
Similarly, a high number of survivors of the 2003 SARS-CoV outbreak also sustained pulmonary fibrosis and weakened lungs.
'It's almost the body's immune system is going nuclear and working to kill everything, which causes scarring and a variety of other problems," Young said.
Young also pointed out that while there were already more than 130,000 COVID-19 patients who have died in the U.S., hundreds of thousands more acute patients are at high risks.
'I think that the public is beginning to be more and more informed about exactly why COVID is so horrible and damaging and potentially fatal," said Young adding that fibrosis is both a short and long term concern "that will cause further death and disability."
Meanwhile, Young said Dr. Rafi's research is focused on a compound that may interrupt the fibrotic process and can even reverse the lung scarring.
'I don't want to scare people, but I think that we need to get the government to pay attention to drug development and the drugs that can potentially treat a respiratory virus like COVID-19 and its complications," Rafi added.
