Drug company creates fundraiser to help develop coronavirus drug

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NEW YORK - A Georgia drug company has turned to crowdfunding in an effort to raise enough money to accelerate efforts to create a treatment for the coronavirus.

Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory is a nonprofit biotechnology company owned by Emory University.

It is trying to raise money to accelerate testing for its antiviral compound that could potentially be used to treat the new coronavirus associated with the outbreak in China and spreading around the globe.

While a related treatment, administered via injection, is currently being evaluated for COVID-19 in China, the company is trying to create an effective oral pill. The developers say that would allow the treatment to be more easily distributed to patients around the globe.

The company says the compound has shown good results against other coronaviruses such as SARS and MERS.

To date, the research has been primarily funded by government agencies but they say additional urgent funds are needed to accelerate testing and development in order to bring it to the general population.

l compound to prepare and store to help quell future pandemics."

The backers say the funds will be used to accelerate the development of EIDD-2801 for the treatment of COVID-19 and to help develop other antivirals to address future pandemics.