Potential cures for COVID-19: Expert's view

코로나19 치료제, 가장 가능성있는 것은? 전문가와의 일문일답

Researchers have been steadily working on a cure for COVID-19,... and among several candidates, the Ebola drug, Remdesivir seems to have the most potential.
Our Kim Bo-kyoung spoke with an expert to find out what may be the most plausible treatment for the coronavirus.
Three main candidates have emerged as potential cures for COVID-19,... Chloroquine, Kaletra and Remdesivir.
Chloroquine is currently used to treat Malaria,... and acts as an anti-viral to most viruses that are covered with lipid membranes like COVID-19.
Kaletra is a cure for AIDS. It inhibits the virus's proteolytic enzyme from being expressed, so that the virus can't replicate itself.
Chloroquine and Kaletra have been effective at eliminating coronavirus in tests on individual cells.
Remdesivir,... was invented for the Ebola virus.
An expert says although it wasn't a successful drug for Ebola, it is the most promising one for coronavirus.
"When it was developed as a cure for Ebola virus, it has already gone through clinical trial phase one. It failed as a cure for Ebola virus,... but the group of researchers who studied coronaviruses found it showed anti-viral efficacy on MERS-coronavirus not only at the cell phase but also in animal experiments."
South Korean health authorities have said that clinical trials of Remdesivir made by U.S. company Gilead Pharmaceuticals are being done across the world and the results might come as early as late May.
After that, it would need FDA approval.
Until then,... this expert says using blood plasma is a possible option.
"Blood plasma is used for the antibodies it contains. Most of the patients who have recovered from COVID-19 have developed antibodies for it. So patients in severe conditions could benefit if they receive a transfusion of blood plasma."
Though effective, he adds that developing a cure is necessary as there isn't enough blood plasma to treat every patient.
KIM Bo-kyoung, Arirang News.