Is there increasing evidence that the key ingredient in Pepcid could be an effective COVID-19 treatment?
Continuing studies of famotidine—an antihistimine, and the active ingredient in the heartburn-relief drug Pepcid—have yielded more signs the drug could help treat COVID-19.
The studies, while not conclusive, follow preliminary encouraging findings in May. A recent study at a Connecticut hospital found COVID-19 patients who took Pepcid were 45% less likely to die and 48% less likely to need a ventilator than those who were not treated with the medication.
In another study, researchers administered famotidine and the allergy medication cetirizine to 110 COVID-19 patients with severe pulmonary symptoms. The combination of the two drugs resulted in “reductions in inpatient mortality and symptom progression."
A third study found non-hospitalized coronavirus patients who took famotidine reported noticeable improvements within 24 hours of starting the drug.
