WASHINGTON: The United States is devoting $3.2 billion to speed development of antiviral pills to treat COVID-19 and other dangerous viruses that could turn into pandemics.
The new program will invest in “accelerating things that are already in progress" for COVID-19 but also would work to come up with treatments for other viruses, said Dr.
Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert. He announced the investment Thursday at a White House briefing. “There are few treatments that exist for many of the viruses that have pandemic potential," he said, including Ebola, dengue, West Nile and Middle East respiratory syndrome.