Remdesivir, a non-specific antiviral drug that was originally tested against Ebola, has been shown to be effective against the new coronavirus in a preliminary data analysis, as reported by the National Institutes of Health. The UW School of Medicine was one of the sites in the National Institutes of Health trial. Dr. Helen Chu, assistant professor of medicine at the UW School of Medicine, explains the drug decreased time to recovery and also improved mortality outcomes. 

"It’s really a gamechanger for the field to know first of all having an antirviral drug that works to prevent real clinical outcomes, to improve clinical outcomes is just so important," she says.

Watch the full interview at UW Medicine Newsroom and read related stories at KIRO 7 and GeekWire. Helen Chu is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Global Health.