Delighted to share our view on the use of #interferons #lambda #IFNL #TYPEIII #IFN as #therapeutics against #Covid_19 #SARSCoV2. This opinion comes form an amazing team effort. #openaccess 1/5 http://doi.org/10.1084/JEM.20200653

In particular an endless work and long nights shared with @prokuninaolsson @COdendall Andreas Wack and Sergei Kotenko @BostonChildrens @NIH @theNCI @harvardmed @KingsCollegeLon @TheCrick and many others to work on pros and cons of #IFNL in #COVID19 2/5

Take home message: type III interferons are potentially a better therapeutic resource compared to type I IFNs due to limited cellular targets and reduced #inflammatory activity, since #cytokine #storm appears to be a major issue in #COVID2019 http://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30628-0 3/5

But we also share concerns about use of #interferons in general and #IFNL in particular. There are many unknowns linked to type III IFN activity in #humans compared to #mouse models. See also the important thread on #Ace2 being an #ISG found using #scRNAseq @ordovas_phd 4/5

Thus, we strongly support to test in formal #clincal #trials the use of #IFNL against #SARSCoV2 to provide immediate protection to #healthcare workers or in early stages of infection in #patients with no sign of #lung #inflammation. More on #IFNL: http://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20190295 5/5