Could ivermectin really be helpful in the fight against COVID-19 or is it best left to deworming horses and fighting river blindness?

Doctors at Duke have been studying the answer to those questions since the summer, according to a recent report in “The News & Observer.” It’s a study — two other drugs and their effectiveness against the virus are being tested, too — that everyone will want to keep an eye on. And, it’s a study that two groups in particular — those who have championed the drug in the fight against COVID-19, and those who have ridiculed its use, particularly the dosing and version used in animals, in humans — will likely watch closely.

According to the report, the study hopes to attach some science to three drugs — ivermectin, fluvoxamine, which is used as an anti-depressant, and fluticasone furoate, an asthma drug — and their effectiveness or lack of effectiveness in treating COVID-19.

“There were some early studies that showed that it could potentially be helpful with COVID-19, but they were not large enough to be definitive,” Dr. Adrian Hernandez, identified as “one of the study’s leaders” was quoted as saying in the story. “So we want to know either way, is it potentially beneficial or not?”

The report said that Hernandez said the study was started, in part, because “so many people, including some doctors, are trying ivermectin despite warnings against it.”

“We should understand if there are any benefits,” he said. “And, if not, we should be able to report that back out to the public clearly and note what shouldn’t be done.”

While the drug has wide use in animal medicine, it has also been used in humans since the late 1980s to treat river blindness, according to the report. It is not an approved drug for the treatment of COVID-19, and the FDA warns against it and notes that, particularly the animal version of the drug can be dangerous if ingested by humans.

Per the report, the other drugs in the study are fluvoxamine, which is used to treat depression, and fluticasone furoate, an asthma inhaler. The study, which is referred to as ACTIV-6, is seeking to find drugs that may be used at home to treat the virus.