The COVID-19 pandemic has gotten the global scientific community to swing into action to find an urgent cure.

With the infection numbers reaching 8 million worldwide, several researches, studies and trials are being carried out simultaneously to urgently look into the effects of anti-viral drugs, steroids and repurposed drugs on COVID-19 patients.

In just over the last month, there have been a few developments.

An old, cheap, anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone has recently been touted as a treatment for COVID-19 to reduce mortality. Even the WHO, on 23 June, has asked to ramp up the production of this widely used steroid, after clinical trials found it to have life-saving potential for critically-ill coronavirus patients in the UK.

Another drug, Remdesivir, initially developed by Gilead Sciences to work against Ebola, has demonstrated faster recovery among COVID-19 patients. It has now been launched into production by the drugmaker Cipla under its brand name Cipremi.

And Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has also launched anti-viral drug Favipiravir for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 cases after receiving ‘restricted emergency’ approval from the Drug Controller General of India to manufacture and market the medicine.

But how optimistic are doctors and experts about these developments? Tune in to The Big Story!

Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guest: Dr Sumit Ray, Critical Care Specialist in Delhi-NRC Editor: Shelly Walia

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

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