WASHINGTON - The United States will invest more than $3 billion to develop antiviral pills to treat COVID-19 and other dangerous viruses that have "pandemic potential."The pills for COVID-19 would be used to minimize symptoms after a person is infected and are currently in development, officials said.
The treatment could begin arriving by year's end, pending the completion of clinical trials. The $3.2 billion in funding, which comes from the American Rescue Plan, will go toward those clinical trials and provide additional support for private-sector research, development and manufacturing."New antivirals that prevent serious COVID-19 illness and death, especially oral drugs that could be taken at home early in the course of disease, would be.