A new study has suggested a link between Ivermectin - a cheap drug for the treatment of hair lice - and reduction in the risk of Covid-19 related deaths up to 80%.
Dr Andrew Hill, a virologist from Liverpool University behind the analysis, claimed the drug could be 'transformational' in the battle against the virus.
But other scientists expressed scepticism of the finding, saying more data would be needed before it could be used as a potential treatment.
They pointed out that other drugs, such as hydroxychloroquine and tocilizumab, showed great promise in early trials but scientists later discovered they had no benefit.
They also suggested the drug could speed up the removal of the virus from the body. The Egyptian test involved 100 patients with moderate symptoms who got the drug and 100 with severe symptoms who got the drug. The same number was used for the control group. In the Bangladesh study 72 Covid-19 patients were involved.
The drug, discovered in the 70's, which is meant for a vast number of parasitic infections, such as head lice and scabies, is also recommended by various health authorities as a treatment for rosacea.
In the Egyptian test, 100 patients with mild symptoms cleared the virus within five days, on average, when they got the drug. For comparison, the figure stood at around 10 days for 100 patients who did not receive the drug.
And in 100 patients battling severe symptoms they removed Covid within six days when they got the drug, on average, compared to 12 days for the 100 control patients.
Similar results were also seen in a study carried out in Bangladesh.
The studies were carried out mainly in developing countries - including Bangladesh, Argentina and Egypt - and the research was commissioned by the World Health Organisation.
The early analysis suggests ivermectin may help patients suffering from the virus, but scientists have cautioned against these conclusions as yet.
The studies compared used different dose amounts of ivermectin, time spans and differed in how they treated their control groups.
Some were double-blinded - the 'gold standard' - meaning no volunteers were aware who was getting the drug, and others were open label, meaning participants knew whether they were getting the drug or a placebo.
"If we see these same trends observed consistently across more studies then this really is going to be a transformational treatment," Dr Hill said in the presentation.
The drug remains one of the most controversial among scientists, as some sees it as "wonder treatments".
While more vibrant studies with large number of participants to be carried out, the current studies have low numbers of participants, weak study designs, and inconsistent (and relatively low) ivermectin dosing regimes, with ivermectin frequently given in combination with other drugs.
"All we have are observational studies and clinicians' opinions," the head of pharmacy at the University of Sydney, Professor Andrew McLachlan said in August, casting 'huge uncertainty' about whether the treatment was safe and effective in tackling coronavirus 'despite the favourable headlines'.
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