The over-the-counter antacid Pepcid is trending online and it's not because we all have collective heartburn over the coronavirus epidemic. The 187 patients in the study group have been given daily doses of famotidine roughly nine times the dose prescribed for heartburn. NEW YORK -- Over the past few weeks researchers have been studying a new potential treatment for COVID-19 and it might not be what many people expect.COVID News: 'Golden Girls Live' goes virtual amid pandemic Dine outdoors at Katz's for first time in 132 years20-year-old with disability shot and killed in her sleepTropical Storm expected to intensify to Cat. A common heartburn drug being tested by a group of New York hospitals may show promise in treating the COVID-19 virus, according to a story from The hospitals, which have only just made the study public, have been testing the effectiveness of famotidine, the active ingredient in over-the-counter heartburn medications like Pepcid AC. When studying a “clearly beneficial” interventionDr. While famotadine is a relatively safe drug, potential side effects do exist.Conigliaro hopes to have results at least by fall should a second wave of coronavirus infections hit the country at that time.He and his researchers are pushing ahead, hoping to enlist other hospitals into the clinical trial so they can move it toward completion.It’s ambitious, Conigliaro said, but given the circumstances, researchers are trying to do in weeks or months what would normally take a couple of years.As a colleague said to him, “We’re laying down the rails as the train is moving down the track,” he said.Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our However, Tracey told CNN that it is too early to know if famotidine will benefit COVID-19 patients and warned the public not to buy up the medicine and try it at home. Tracey told CNN that Northwell Health did not announce any news about the study because the hospital system feared that media attention could lead to a potential run on famotidine. No results have been announced from the study yet. The original plan was for the study to be conducted at Northwell Health facilities, but it has been expanded.Conigliaro said researchers aren’t looking for a success rate equal to that of the retrospective study. The popular heartburn drug, sold under the brand name Pepcid, is being tested by hospitals in New York as a treatment for COVID-19 after it was observed that some coronavirus patients in … They realized that the poorer patients taking heartburn medication prior to becoming ill had been taking famotidine which is a much less expensive medication. As of earlier this week, only 233 patients had been enrolled.The goal was set at a time when patients were testing positive for the coronavirus at a faster clip, Conigliario said. The drug is used in some over-the-counter remedies for heartburn, like Pepcid, and is now being investigated as a possible coronavirus treatment. Callahan noted that wealthier Chinese on heartburn medication did not seem to do as well. The plan is to test nearly 1,200 patients, half with famotadine and half with a placebo. Three different drugs have now shown promise for treating COVID-19. ... Coronavirus News: Pepcid being used in new coronavirus drug trial with anti-malaria drug. The ones responding favorably were taking famotidine, as opposed to another type of heartburn medicine.That and some modeling led to the retrospective study and the clinical trial. The patients in the clinical trial are being given high doses of famotidine intravenously.Tarabichi also said he wouldn’t take Pepcid because the claim is still unproven. (NIAID-RML via AP)CLEVELAND, Ohio - A recent study suggests that famotidine, an active ingredient in the over-the-counter antacid drug Pepcid, might improve a coronavirus patient’s chance of recovery.The study looked at 1,620 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 from Feb. 25 to April 13 and found a 58 percent reduction in death or the need for intubation among a subset of 84 patients who had been exposed to famotidine within 24 hours of being hospitalized.But the findings have caught the interest of some doctors contacted this week by Modeling has shown that the famotidine might bind with and disrupt the proteins produced by the coronavirus, inhibiting the ability for the virus to get into cells and replicate.Dr. Michael Callahan, an infectious disease physician based at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, was in China when the COVID-19 outbreak happened, according to Science Magazine.