List Of Companies Working On COVID-19 Drugs - Biotech/Pharma Stocks To Watch

(RTTNews) - The collective calamities like epidemics or pandemics are recurring themes in human history. Despite major advances in medical countermeasures, why is the world threatened by so many animal-borne infectious diseases like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic?

Researchers believe that ecological disturbances like habitat destruction, climate change, and biodiversity loss are major drivers of infectious diseases.

In his Op-Ed for The New York Times, science writer David Quammen recently wrote, "We cut the trees; we kill the animals or cage them and send them to markets. We disrupt ecosystems, and we shake viruses loose from their natural hosts. When that happens, they need a new host. Often, we are it."

According to the CDC, more than 60 percent of known infectious diseases in people are transmitted from animals. SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, is also of animal origin - mostly bats.

As the novel coronavirus continues to spread globally, scientists are racing to develop a vaccine or cure for COVID-19. It will take at least 12 -18 months to develop a coronavirus vaccine. So, while new drugs are being developed, researchers are testing existing therapies for other illnesses as a treatment option for COVID-19.

Say, for example, Gilead Sciences' Ebola treatment Remdesivir, Sanofi's malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, Roche's rheumatoid arthritis drug Tocilizumab, sold under the brand name Actemra, and Regeneron Pharma's rheumatoid arthritis drug Kevzara are being explored in the treatment of the novel coronavirus.

In a clinical trial involving seriously ill patients with Covid-19, AbbVie's HIV medicine Kaletra was not associated with any benefit - be it clinical improvement or mortality. This trial, conducted in China, is one of the major trials, and its failure is a setback in the hunt for a COVID-19 treatment. But there's always hope.

While the governments, researchers, companies among others are in search of one or more treatments that can help address the deadly Coronavirus, investors are in search of investment opportunities in biotech and pharmaceutical stocks.

There was never a time like this in terms of the federal government and major corporations coming together, Trump administration calls this public/private partnership, in an effort to find a solution for a life-threatening illness affecting people across the world.

The following are some of the companies developing drugs/vaccines for COVID-19.

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