Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's leading infectious disease specialist, declared the investment Thursday in a White House briefing as part of a brand new"antiviral plan for pandemics" to produce drugs to deal with symptoms due to potentially harmful viruses such as that the coronavirus.
The pills for COVID-19, that might be employed to minimize symptoms following disease, are in development and may start coming by the year's end, pending the conclusion of clinical trials. The financing will rate those clinical trials and supply extra support to private industry research, development and production.
"There are only a few remedies that exist for lots of the viruses which have pandemic potential," he explained.
However he also added,"vaccines certainly remain the centerpiece of the arsenal."
The U.S. has accepted one antifungal medication, remdesivir, from COVID-19 and enabled emergency usage of three antibody mixtures which help the immune system fight the virus. But most of the medications need to be infused at hospitals or health care practices, and demand has been reduced because of those logistical hurdles.
The U.S. government was attempting to increase awareness of their remedies, linking those who test positive for COVID-19 with info about providers that are nearby.
Health specialists, including Fauci, have called for easier pill-based medications that patients can take themselves. Some drugmakers are analyzing such drugs, but first results are not anticipated for a few more months.
The presently available drugs have largely been demonstrated to help patients prevent hospitalization or shorten their recovery time by many days.
