WADA softened its position on Meldonium

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) issued a special statement on April 14, according to which not all athletes with a positive breakdown into mills will be punished. WADA experts do not have accurate data on the withdrawal of the drug from the body and suggested that the drug could remain in the body of athletes after January 1, 2016, even if it was taken before the agency decided to include meldonium in the banned list. In turn, "Grindex" hopes for an open dialogue with WADA and will make every effort to ensure that the drug has been excluded from the list of doping.

Simple mathematics
Accredited WADA laboratories have begun studies that should clearly show what the timing of deducing Meldonium from the body. Already today the agency agrees that they can be long, up to several months. This is also indicated by the preliminary results of WADA research.

Academician of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Science. chem. Sciences, prof. Ivars Kalvish, the founder of Mildronate, is a little annoyed in this occasion. "If the agency WADA read my work on what is happening with Meldonium in the body, it would find out that the drug is stored inside the cells of the myocardium. The substance accumulates and lingers in the body, "he said at a press conference in Moscow on April 18. According to him, after a course of treatment in the body, a person accumulates about 18-25 g.

"The elimination half-life means that if the drug is taken in a dose of 1 g, then the first half of this amount, that is, 500 mg, is excreted for a certain period, indicated in the instructions, depending on the organism from 3 to 9 hours. In the next 9 hours 250 mg, the next 9 hours - 125 mg, etc. are output. Therefore, you need 20-30 half-lives in order to deduce 1 g. Now calculate how much will be deduced 20 g. About 120 days ", - counts the Latvian academician.

The main battle
However, this is only a temporary retreat of WADA. And it concerns only those athletes who will be able to prove that they took Meldonium until September 16, 2015, when it became known that he had been included in the list of prohibited medicines for athletes. The agency does not say that it intends to review the decision to the full.

At the same time "Grindex" - the Latvian manufacturer Mildronate - conducts active correspondence with WADA. "The position of the company" Grindex "is extremely simple: Mildronate has never been created as a dope, - says the Chairman of the Board of JSC" Grindeks "Juris Bundulis. - Its pharmacological properties and indications for use do not correspond to any criterion by which a drug could be classified as doping. As for our relationship with WADA, for a long period of time, on the basis of scientific publications, we tried to convince experts that Mildronate should not be included in the list. Unfortunately, the last decision on the list for January 1, 2016 was an unpleasant surprise for us. "

But, despite the disappointment, the company decided to open dialogue with WADA experts. On April 13, a letter was sent to the agency saying: "As far as we know, WADA's public statements on the properties of meldonium, which served as the basis for its inclusion in the List of Prohibited Substances in 2016, could be based on no more than three publications. At the same time, the conclusions drawn in these publications are not sufficiently substantiated. "That is why Grindex provided an overview of the therapeutic use of the drug for consideration by the agency.

Intermediate solution
How WADA will respond to these studies is still unknown. As they say in "Grindex", the agency is not very willing to communicate with the manufacturer. However, Russian doctors believe that the use of the drug for athletes should be made possible at least for therapeutic use.

"Now beta-blockers are prohibited, but there are life-threatening conditions, in particular, a rhythm disturbance, in which they can not be used," recalls Assoc. Department of Sports Medicine, head. the Laboratory of Sports Cardiology of the Russian State University of Physical Education, Sports, Youth and Tourism, Ph.D. honey. Sciences Anastasia Mikhailova. - There are also beta-stimulants, which are shown to athletes with bronchial asthma. Probably, it would be possible to allow the use of meldonium in certain circumstances. "

To the question whether the company will be satisfied with this decision, at least, answered that specialists should solve it, but once again stressed that for the moment there is no scientific research that meldonium increases efficiency. And if this is so, then it should not be on the list.

As far as Grindex is enough, it is not yet clear. As noted during the press conference head. Department of Therapy, Clinical Pharmacology and Emergency Medical Care of MGMSU, Doctor of Medicine. honey. Sciences, prof. Arkady Vertkin, athletes - the smallest group of drug users: "Athletes are much less than the army of patients with whom we deal every day. Patients after a heart attack, stroke, oncology, fractures, injuries, the so-called group of less mobile people. "

So, even if the "Grindex" can not persuade WADA to exclude the drug from the list of banned, then for meldonium life will not end. Yes, and Mr. Bundulis himself admits that the doping scandal is a new opportunity for the drug. According to him, the company receives many letters from the professional medical community of countries where the drug is not registered.