US Health Agency, BioTech Company Joins Forces in Effort to Combat Coronavirus

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Tuesday that it was partnering with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc, an American biotechnology company, to develop a treatment for the 2019 novel coronavirus.

The US agency and drugmaker plan to use the same class of drug, based on monoclonal antibodies, that helped treat Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Emerging infectious diseases can present serious threats to our nation’s health security,” said Rick Bright, an official at the HHS, is quoted as saying, AFP reported.

“Working as public-private partners like we have with Regeneron since 2014, we can move rapidly to respond to new global health threats,” Bright added.

Regeneron has also worked to develop a  treatment for Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which is caused by another variety of coronavirus.

Chinese doctors have been giving coronavirus patients HIV drugs, namely lopinavir and ritonavir, along with an anti-flu drug called oseltamivir. The combination of all three drugs has proved effective in some cases.

Other pharmaceutical companies, including Moderna Inc, Gilead Sciences Inc and Johnson & Johnson, have also announced that they plan to develop treatments for the coronavirus, Reuters reported.

More than 24,000 people worldwide have been infected by the coronavirus, which originated in China’s Hubei Province in December. In addition, at least 494 people have died from the virus so far, with 479 of the fatalities occurring in Hubei.

Sourse: sputniknews.com