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Iin the months since the novel coronavirus rose from a regional crisis to a global threat, drug makers large and small have scrambled to advance their best ideas for thwarting a pandemic.
Some are taking a cue from older antivirals. Some are tapping tried-and-true technologies, and others are pressing forward with futuristic approaches to human medicine.
Here’s a guide to some of the most talked-about efforts to treat or prevent coronavirus infection, with details on the science, history, and timeline for each endeavor. We’re looking at novel medicines, not repurposed drugs. (For more on some of the efforts to repurpose drugs, read this.) The below therapies and vaccines are sorted in order of how close they could be to approval, starting with a treatment in Phase 3 trials, followed by others in Phase 1 studies and then preclinical development. Approval, of course, would only come if they are proven safe and effective.
Gilead Sciences
Approach: Treatment
Stage: Phase 3
Gilead’s remdesivir is being studied in five clinical trials around the world. In China, Gilead is recruiting about 1,000 patients diagnosed with the coronavirus to determine whether multiple doses of remdesivir can reverse the infection. The primary goals are reducing fever and helping patients get out of the hospital within two weeks. The drug, which previously failed in a study on Ebola virus, is administered intravenously. More on the drug here.
Ascletis Pharma
Approach: Treatment
Stage: Phase 1
Chinese drug maker Ascletis Pharma is testing a combination of antivirals, one approved for HIV and one approved for hepatitis C, that might treat coronavirus infection. Last month, the company enrolled 11 patients with coronavirus-caused pneumonia and administered a cocktail of danoprevir and ritonavir. All 11 were eventually discharged, according to Ascletis. The company hasn’t disclosed plans for a larger study.
Moderna Therapeutics
Approach: Vaccine
Stage: Phase 1
Moderna set a drug industry record with mRNA-1273, a vaccine candidate identified just 42 days after the novel coronavirus was sequenced. The company is working with the National Institutes of Health on a healthy-volunteer study that began earlier this month. If mRNA-1273 proves itself to be safe, Moderna will enroll hundreds more patients to determine whether the vaccine protects against infection. Moderna’s product is a synthetic strand of messenger RNA, or mRNA, designed to convince bodily cells to produce antibodies against the virus. The company, founded in 2010, is yet to win Food and Drug Administration approval for any of its mRNA medicines. More on the vaccine candidate here.
CanSino Biologics
Approach: Vaccine
Stage: Phase 1
CanSino Biologics, headquartered in Tianjin, is close to testing its novel coronavirus vaccine in a clinical trial in China. CanSino’s approach involves taking a snippet of coronavirus’ genetic code and entwining it with a harmless virus, thereby exposing healthy volunteers to the novel infection and spurring the production of antibodies. The company said this week that Chinese authorities approved its planned trial, which will begin as soon as possible. CanSino markets a vaccine for Ebola virus in China.
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