covid-19 treatments

Pfizer researchers looking for a drug to treat SARS found clues that gave the company a head start in its quest for a pill to treat COVID-19, including the omicron variant.

The drug, known as molnupiravir, has shown promise in treating the disease. The agreement to license its production could help millions of people in the developing world gain access to it.

The medicines from Eli Lilly and Regeneron are infused, a process that can take two hours or longer, including observation for side effects. Staffing is as big an issue as the supply of the drugs.

Eli Lilly's monoclonal antibody will be available to people 65 or older or those with underlying health conditions. Supplies will be short, and allocating the medicine will be a challenge.

To boost the supply of Regeneron's antibody therapy for COVID-19, the federal government entered into a $450 million supply contract. Details of the deal show some safeguards are missing.

The federal government plans to distribute 300,000 doses of the drug at no cost, but that doesn't mean treatment will be free. Intravenous infusion charges can run more than $1,000.

Medical researchers have high hopes that the kind of treatment the president received could end up being an important element in the fight against the pandemic. But clinical trials continue.

President Trump announced on Sunday that the FDA granted emergency use authorization to treat COVID-19 patients with plasma from people who have recovered from the virus, based on "promising" results.

A paper suggesting hydroxychloroquine increases the risk of death for patients with COVID-19 has been retracted by three of its authors because they were not able to verify the data used in the study.

The WHO cited a scientific study published last week suggesting that proposed COVID-19 drug hydroxychloroqine may do more harm than good in halting its study to review data.

In the 1950s, as Dr. Jonas Salk and virologist Albert Sabin worked to create a vaccine to prevent infantile paralysis, the threat from polio was already long familiar to Americans.

Some scientists think this drug has promise for COVID-19. But controversy around the drug is complicating the job of scientists who just want to find answers.