U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks next to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar during a tour of the secretary's operation center following a coronavirus task force meeting in Washington, February 27, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
The first US study of a drug to cure coronavirus is already in progress.
Presently, there are more than 80,000 infected people and 2,700 people have been killed because of COVID-19 and there is not yet a cure or vaccine approved by the US Food and Drug Authority.
Just as federal health officials warned that the virus may eventually spread throughout US communities, news of the drug testing for a cure came out last Tuesday.
The National Institutes of Health said that a clinical trial was done to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the antiviral drug remdesivir on coronavirus starting at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
The antiviral drug remdesivir is still experimental- not yet proved to cure diseases. Studies of using the drug on infected monkeys and mice have suggested that it can fight coronavirus; and although it did not work well with treating Ebola, it appeared to have caused minimal side effects to patients positive in Ebola.
Gilead Sciences, the maker of this new drug announced last Wednesday that it is expanding its clinical trials into several countries.
There will be two clinical trials that will begin in March, participating in the said experiment are approximately 1,000 patients at medical centers primarily across Asian countries and as well as other countries with high numbers of confirmed cases.
The company has already started testing in Wuhan and also at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in the United States.
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Scientists also grew an interest in this drug after it was administered to the first coronavirus patient in the United States. The patient was confined in Washington State and his symptoms seemed to improve. However, the experience of one patient cannot be used to determine whether any drug works or not.
On February 25, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned about the potential spread of the virus in the United States, "it's not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness," said Dr. Nancy Messonier the director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease.
Participants in the US treatment group will receive 200 milligrams of the antiviral drug remdesivir intravenously when they participated in the study. Another 100 milligrams will be given once hospitalized for up to 10 days. While the placebo group will be receiving a solution that resembles the drug but will only contain inactive ingredients.
The US has already 60 confirmed cases, 15 of which have been to Wuhan or are the spouse of someone who recently came back from the epicenter of the infection. The country has now taken measures to contain the virus while also implementing strategies to lessen its impact on communities.
Researchers at the Gilead Sciences are trying to determine which patients will benefit the most from the drug by giving it to infected individuals who are severely ill and those with mild cases. They also hope to know how long the duration will the treatment be.
Faster treatment means that the supply will automatically double in number and patients will get out of the hospital faster, lessening their exposure to the disease and make room for more patients to be treated.