Coronavirus Treatments, Trials and the New York Hospital Bed Expansion

Today, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned that the coronavirus curve hasn’t been “flattened,” and “is actually increasing.” He then cautioned that the apex of the virus could be as many as 14 to 21 days away. They now project a need for 140,000 beds at the peak and not 100,000. Cuomo warns that this will happen in California, Washington and Illinois and other states. They are looking at dorms and hospitals. They need 30,000 ventilators.

Many Drugs and Treatments are Being Tested

Compound EIDD-2801 is a promising broad-spectrum antiviral. Compound EIDD-2801 comes from the lab of coronavirus veteran Ralph Baric, PhD, professor in the department of microbiology and immunology at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. A world expert that has studied RNA viruses for 35 years, Baric’s team also performed much of the early work on remdesivir—Gilead’s drug that is currently being tested in multiple human clinical trials and is leading the pack of SARS-CoV-2 treatment hopefuls.

Baric also led a team of researchers who published a warning about a SARS like coronavirus 5 years ago. Nature Medicine – A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the Food and Drug Administration will send 750,000 doses of chloroquine, 75,000 doses of hydroxychloroquine and 10,000 doses of Zithromax. Azithromycin is an antibiotic and hydroxychloroquine is used to treat malaria.

Dr. Peter Palese, the head of the Department of Microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, is doubtful about the malaria drugs against coronavirus. Palese is more hopeful about harvesting antibodies from the blood of those recovering from coronavirus. Nextbigfuture covered the antibodies from blood of recovering coronavirus patients.

Regeneron, a New York-based company, is also working on a drug to treat COVID-19 that could be available soon for clinical trials.

China had some clinical trial success with the drug Avigan (favipiravir), an anti-influenza medication made in Japan by Fujifilm.

SOURCES- Bioworld, Forbes, NY Gov Cuomo
Written By Brian Wang, Nextbigfuture.com. Brian is working at a startup developing coronavirus mitigation.