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Repurposed Drugs Offer Shortest Path to Coronavirus Treatment

Brian Padden

   WASHINGTON - Withthe global COVID-19 death toll surgingpast 20,000
   peoplethis week, accelerated efforts todevelopcoronavirus
   treatmentsareprimarilyfocused onadaptingexisting drugsintendedto fight
   other diseases.

   "The shortest path to a treatment, we think, is to repurpose something
   that already exists based on our knowledge of the mechanisms of
   action," saidDr. HanaAkselrod, an assistant professor of infectious
   diseases at the George Washington University School of Medicine and
   Health Sciences.

   This new strain of coronavirus causesthe disease, COVID-19,a
   respiratory illness that can be fatalfor an estimated 2% of the
   population, especiallyolder people andthosewith underlying medical
   conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.COVID-19 virus is
   related to other deadly viruses that have caused relatively recent
   widespread outbreaks: SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, and
   MERS,Middle East respiratory syndrome.

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