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Coronavirus pandemic
ChinaPeople & Culture

China starts clinical trials for new antiviral drug to treat coronavirus

  • Remdesivir, developed by Gilead Sciences, was last week given to US patient whose condition appeared to improve within a day
  • Tests are being carried out at multiple hospitals in Wuhan, ground zero of the outbreak

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The streets are deserted in Beijing as the virus continues to spread. Photo: AFP
Phoebe Zhang
China has begun clinical trials to test a drug for the deadly new coronavirus, which has no cure and is being treated with a combination of antivirals and other measures, as scientists race to find a vaccine.
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The experimental antiviral drug, Remdesivir, developed by US-based Gilead Sciences, is aimed at infectious diseases such Ebola and Sars. It was given to the first US patient last week – a 35-year-old man whose condition appeared to improve within a day.

China’s National Health Commission on Monday said the drug trials were being carried out at multiple hospitals in the central city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak that has killed more than 360 people since December. Some 270 patients will take part in the study, Thepaper.cn reported.

The World Health Organisation also said it was working with partners to speed up drug research and development to treat the pneumonia-like illness. It said although antibiotics did not work on viruses, only bacterial infections, patients may also be given antibiotics to fight co-infections.

Chinese epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan, a pivotal figure in the country’s fight against the Sars epidemic in 2002-03, on Sunday said although there was no vaccine or cure for the disease, some of the treatments had been effective.

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