Coronavirus drugs selected for clinical trials

Several antiviral drugs with inhibiting effects against the novel coronavirus have been selected by the Wuhan Institute of Virology for potential clinical trials, said the institute affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Wednesday.

A report of the findings has been submitted to the state and the Hubei provincial headquarters coordinating the fight against the epidemic for further study and deliberations to guide clinical treatment, said the institute on its website.

Remdesivir, a medicine for the Ebola virus, Chloroquine, which is used to treat malaria, and anti-HIV drug Ritonavir were jointly found by the institute and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences to be good inhibitors against the coronavirus at cellular level, according to a previous report by Hubei Daily.

The institute said it has also developed a detecting method of the virus based on the identification of IgG and IgM antibodies in serum of patients suspected with infection, which can be a supplementary detecting method to the current nucleic acid testing.

The detection kit has been produced through partnership with Zhuhai Livzon Diagnostics, a Guangdong-based bio company, it said.

Shi Zhengli, director of the research center for emerging infectious diseases at the institute, has been leading a task force consisting of 13 experts studying the virus, quick detection and treatment methods, as well as a vaccine against the virus.

As of Tuesday, the coronavirus, provisionally called 2019-nCoV, has infected 5,974 people and claimed 132 lives since its outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province, in December.