The Wuhan Institute of Virology, China Academy of Sciences had filed a patent application to use remdesivir to treat the novel coronavirus (2019 nCoV) on January 21, 2020, which has sparked debate on China’s social media about intellectual property issues.
The company said it had filed patent applications for the drug’s use on coronaviruses in China and some other countries and regions in 2016, but it has not yet received approval in China.
What is remdesivir?
- Remdesivir is an antiviral experimental drug from US biotechnology firm Gilead Sciences.
- According to the Gilead Sciences, the drug is not yet licensed or approved anywhere globally and it has not been demonstrated to be safe or effective for coronavirus infection treatment.
- The drug is currently being developed for the treatment of Ebola virus infection.
Pangolin is suspect!
- Chinese researchers investigating the animal origin of the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China said that the endangered pangolin may be the “missing link” between bats and humans, but other scientists said the search may not be over.
- The SARS outbreak of 2002-3, involving a different strain of coronavirus, was transferred to humans by the civet, a small mammal prized in China for its flesh.
