9 updates on drugs being tested to treat COVID-19

As Gilead's remdesivir remains the only fully approved drug to treat COVID-19, researchers are testing many others, both new and repurposed, against the virus.

Here are nine updates on some of the drugs being tested, reported since the beginning of June:

1. GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology's COVID-19 antibody drug,sotrovimab,resulted in a 79 percent reductionin the risk of hospitalization from COVID-19 for more than 24 hours in a clinical trial. The National Institutes of Health has authorized sotrovimab for nonhospitalized people with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk of clinical progression.
   
   
2. Gilead's瑞德西韦, sold under the brand nameVeklury,reduced mortality ratesin hospitalized COVID-19 patients and increased their likelihood of being discharged by day 28 after a five-day regimen. Remdesivir became the first FDA-approved COVID-19 treatment in October.
   
   
3. The U.S. said itplans to invest more than $3 billionto developantiviral drugsto treat COVID-19. The money will go to speeding up clinical trials of several promising drug candidates.

4. Regeneron's COVID-19 antibody cocktail,casirivimab and imdevimab,reduced the risk of death among hospitalized patientsby 20 percent in a phase 3 trial.
   
   
5. AstraZeneca's COVID-19 antibody drug,AZD7442,does not preventsymptomatic COVID-19 infection in people recently exposed to the virus, a phase 3 trial found.
   
   
6. Aspirindoes not improve survival ratesfor hospitalized COVID-19 patients, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford in England found
   
   
7. The U.S.signed a deal to purchase1.7 million courses of Mercks' COVID-19 antiviral drugmolnupiravirfor $1.2 billion if it's authorized by the FDA. It is an experimental oral antiviral designed to treat patients with mild to moderate disease who are at risk of developing severe disease.
   
   
8. The FDAauthorized an injectable versionof Regeneron's COVID-19 drugREGEN-COV, a combination of two monoclonal antibodies, casirivimab and imdevimab. It was granted emergency use authorization in November for treatment of COVID-19 patients who are at high risk of their cases becoming severe.
   
   
9. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health foundTempol, an experimental oral drug,may be a promising treatmentfor COVID-19. The study showed the drug can reduce COVID-19 infections by targeting an enzyme the virus needs to make copies of itself in the body.