Doctors race to develop coronavirus drugs, speeding through hurdles

Doctors race to develop coronavirus drugs, speeding through hurdles

Dr. Phil Felgner, the director of UCI’s Vaccine Research and Development Center has been working on a study to help determine which survivors’ blood offered the most effective antibodies to generate a robust immune response in victims. Aware that researchers around the world have been working on the same question, Felgner said his department has been collecting data one day and publishing it the next for all to share. … Another study, underway at 75 U.S. universities, involved remdesivir …. “It attacks the viral genome and basically kills it,” UCI researcher Dr. Alpesh Amin said. “So, we want to be able to prove whether the drug works or not. There’s been anecdotal experience on use of the drug, but we have no firm data to prove its efficacy.”