COVID-19 drug development is the research process to develop a therapeutic prescription drug that would alleviate the severity of 2019-20 coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Internationally as of March 2020, some 100 firms, university research groups, and health organizations were involved in stages of vaccine or drug development.
The World Health Organization (WHO), European Medicines Agency (EMA), US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Chinese government and drug manufacturers were coordinating with academic and industry researchers to speed development of vaccines, antiviral drugs, and monoclonal antibody therapies.
By late March, 536 clinical studies were registered with the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform to develop post-infection therapies for COVID-19 infections, with numerous established antiviral compounds for treating other infections under clinical research to be repurposed. In March, the World Health Organization initiated the “SOLIDARITY Trial” in 10 countries, enrolling thousands of people infected with COVID-19 to assess treatment effects of four existing antiviral compounds with the most promise of efficacy. A dynamic, systematic review was established in April 2020 to track the progress of registered clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutic drug candidates.
Drug development is a multistep process, typically requiring more than five years to assure safety and efficacy of the new compound.
A treatment for those impacted is the fastest means to addressing this challenge whilst vaccines are in development. This section outlines progress and looks at treatments from the highly sophisticated to home remedies.
Our goal is to vet any idea and insure those with merit gain exposure.
The great hope is that combinations of drugs already approved can offer hope.
Hydroxychloroquine for example, malaria and lupus drug when combined with an antibiotic erythromycin has shown promise.
We believe that other drug “cocktails” such as were developed to address the HIV can be developed. We will provide a platform for such developers to connect.
Research Reports in Development.
By late March 2020, four potential antiviral therapies were in the final stage of human testing
Hydroxychloroquine which has received considerable attention. Dr Oz has been an advocate of its use.