It was also produced in 1986 in recombinant human form, in the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology of Havana, Cuba, under the name Heberon Alfa R.[4] It has been used for a wide range of indications, including viral infections and cancers.

[citation needed] The medication is being used in clinical trials to treat patients with SARS-CoV-2[5] and there are published results in the peer-reviewed scientific literature.

One study at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, showed evidence of a direct anti-viral effect of Interferon alpha against novel Coronavirus in vitro.

A second study by universities in China, Australia and Canada analysed 77 moderate COVID-19 subjects in Wuhan and observed that those who received Interferon alpha-2b showed a significant reduction in the duration of virus shedding period and even in levels of the inflammatory cytokine, IL-6.

[9] The cross-species nature of IFN-α allow it to work in non-human animals,[10] but the period of usefulness is limited by the production of antibodies against this foreign protein.