A typical sars covy to infection is thought to produce more than one million virions per person per day. The plasticity of viruses means that a drug with activity against, say, herpes, is unlikely to make a dent against the corona virus. What we will hopefully find are inhibitors that work on, if you're really lucky, an entire family.
Despite warnings, and a number of close calls, drugmakers failed to develop and stockpile drugs to fight a viral pandemic. Now, in the wake of SARS-CoV-2, they are pledging not to make the same mistake again.
Around the world, researchers are racing to develop drugs to target COVID-19, but also broad-spectrum antivirals that could be used to treat future viral threats.
This is an audio version of our feature: The race for antiviral drugs to beat COVID — and the next pandemic
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