LOS ANGELES - A recent National Institutes of Health trial highlights the failure of a COVID-19 treatment known as interferon beta-1a, a medicine with both antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties, often used in its injected form to treat diseases like multiple sclerosis.A separate small study published in July made the drug a potentially hopeful candidate to treat COVID-19 but the NIH study published on Monday found that interferon did not benefit outcomes of hospitalized adults with COVID-19.NIH scientists said Interferon beta-1a has a similar cellular structure as a naturally occurring protein called interferon beta, which is produced by infected cells to help the body’s immune system.