Existing medication
Some research labs and pharma companies are taking a different approach and exploring whether existing medication can treat the virus. There is still no consensus, but tests have yielded some interesting results:
Remdesivir is an antiviral medication that has been used to treat Ebola: A large-scale clinical trial launched last month to test a mix of remdesivir, lopinavir and ritonavir on 3.2k patients. Tests are also ongoing in the US on the use of remdesivir after a reported two-thirds of severe covid-19 cases showed improvement when it was used.
Japanese influenza medication favipiravir has drawn praise from Chinese medical authorities: Clinical trials saw 340 patients from Wuhan and Shenzhen test negative for covid-19 in only four days but the med seems to only be effective in cases that were caught early.
Australia is testing antimalarial drug chloroquine, and HIV-suppressing combination lopinavir/ ritonavir: All cases in early clinical trials of these medications have completely recovered from covid-19. But before we follow The Donald’s lead and start touting chloroquine as a miracle covid-19 cure, it’s worth remembering that scientists have yet to draw conclusive evidence that the patients’ own immune systems were not behind the recoveries.