SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- A cancer drug based on a compound found in a rare sea creature is 30 to 100 times more powerful against the virus that causes COVID-19 than remdesivir, according to a new set of experiments reported in Science.

In lab tests in petri dishes and mice, the drug Aplidin showed the ability to significantly slow replication of the virus and reduce lung inflammation, according to a team led by scientists at the University of California San Francisco.

Aplidin is the brand name of the drug plitidepsin, a compound originally found in a rare Mediterranean sea squirt. Sea squirts cling to rocks and coral. The creatures are named for their tendency to squirt out seawater when disturbed.

The Australian Regulatory Agency approved Aplidin in 2018 for the treatment of multiple myeloma. The drug does not have authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“Of all the drugs that we and our collaborators have screened [for efficacy against COVID-19], this is by far the most potent,” said Dr. Nevan Krogan, the director of UCSF’s Quantitative Biosciences Institute.

Dr. Krogan and his colleagues have been testing existing drugs to see if they can be repurposed to be used to treat the coronavirus. Instead of focusing on drugs like remdesivir that target proteins in the virus itself, they have been reviewing a catalog of therapies that target proteins in human cells that the virus needs to hijack in order to replicate.

“The virus can’t live by itself. It can’t replicate by itself. It needs our genes and our proteins,” Dr. Krogan said.

With viral mutations making headlines around the world, there are some concerns that adaptations in the coronavirus’ spike protein might allow the virus to eventually evade therapies like monoclonal antibodies or the vaccines. That’s where this alternate strategy of targeting human proteins has a major advantage, Krogan said.

“If you target the human protein, we don't mutate nearly as fast as a virus so you don't have to worry about it getting resistance that way,” he said.

This week, Krogan and his collaborators released early research showing Aplidin was just as effective against the UK variant as it was against the original strain. The research was posted to a pre-print server, meaning it has not yet been peer-reviewed.

“What we've also shown is that different viruses target similar human proteins, so if you're going to be able to combat SARS-CoV-2, you're probably going to [combat] SARS-CoV-3,” he said.

PharmaMar, the Spanish drugmaker behind Aplidin, has completed Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials of Aplidin for use in COVID-19 patients with positive results, setting up a large-scale Phase 3 trial, Krogan said, although the start date is unclear.

“If Phase 3 clinical trials started tomorrow, one could see this drug being more widely used in a couple of months” if the results were promising, he said.

The drug is given in lower doses to COVID-19 patients and for a shorter period than the regimen for cancer patients, reducing the potential for side effects.

Krogan said it’s the closest any drug he’s tested has gotten to becoming a real COVID-19 treatment; a treatment straight from the Mediterranean Sea.

This story originally reported by Derek Staahl on 10News.com.

An antiviral pill has shown to be effective in treating COVID-19, according to Phase 2 trial results released late last week.

Should those promising results continue in large-scale Phase 3 trials, the drug could become vital in the fight against COVID-19 — a disease that still has few treatment options for those suffering from mild to moderate cases.

The drug, molnupiravir, is being produced by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, which is partnering with Merck in scaling up drug trials. While COVID-19 vaccines attack the spike proteins that give the viral cell their distinctive shape, molnupiravir attacks the reproduction centers of the cells, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The goal of the drug is to neuter the contagion so it can’t easily spread from person to person — and results of the drug’s Phase 2 trials appears to show it’s doing just that.

According to Ridgeback and Merck, 182 people were given either molnupiravir or a placebo within a week of developing symptoms of COVID-19, and within four days of a positive test. None of those who took the drug twice a day for five days were detected to have any infectious virus through nasal swabs, while 24% of those who received the placebo were recorded to have infectious virus.

In addition, Ridgeback Biotherapeutics co-founder Wayne Holman told the Wall Street Journal that the findings suggest — but don’t prove — that the drug can reduce illness.

While four “adverse events” were reported among subjects, none of them were linked to side effects of the drug.

“We are very pleased to share our initial Phase 2 infectivity data at this important conference, which remains at the forefront for critical clinical scientific information in infectious diseases,” said Dr. Wendy Painter, the chief medical officer of Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. “At a time where there is unmet need for antiviral treatments against SARS-CoV-2, we are encouraged by these preliminary data.”

Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has only approved a handful drugs approved to treat COVID-19. Remdesivir and Dexamethasone are only approved for use in cases of severe disease and hospitalization. Molnupiravir could potentially be a game-changer since it’s being tested for use with less severe cases of the disease.

It will likely be several months before molnupiravir is approved for widespread use — it still needs to fill and complete Phase 3 trials before the CDC and HHS can even review findings.