Can We be Optimistic About the Potential COVID-19 Cures Yet?

<div>The COVID-19 pandemic has gotten the global scientific community to swing into action to find an urgent cure.<br> <br> With the infection numbers reaching 8 million worldwide, several researches, studies and trials are being carried out simultaneously to urgently look into the effects of anti-viral drugs, steroids and repurposed drugs on COVID-19 patients.<br> <br> In just over the last month, there have been a few developments.<br> <br> An old, cheap, anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone has recently been touted as a treatment for COVID-19 to reduce mortality. Even the WHO, on 23 June, has asked to ramp up the production of this widely used steroid, after clinical trials found it to have life-saving potential for critically-ill coronavirus patients in the UK.<br> <br> Another drug, Remdesivir, initially developed by Gilead Sciences to work against Ebola, has demonstrated faster recovery among COVID-19 patients. It has now been launched into production by the drugmaker Cipla under its brand name Cipremi.<br> <br> And Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has also launched anti-viral drug Favipiravir for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 cases after receiving ‘restricted emergency’ approval from the Drug Controller General of India to manufacture and market the medicine.<br> <br> But how optimistic are doctors and experts about these developments? Tune in to The Big Story!<br> <br> <strong>Producer and Host: </strong>Shorbori Purkayastha<br> <strong>Guest:</strong> Dr Sumit Ray, Critical Care Specialist in Delhi-NRC<br> <strong>Editor:</strong> Shelly Walia<br> <br> <strong>Music:</strong> Big Bang Fuzz<br> <br> <strong>Listen to The Big Story podcast on:</strong> </div> <div><br> </div> <div>Apple: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fapple.co%2F2AYdLIl&amp;redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt8MTU3MTM4MDU5NkAxNTcxMjk0MTk2&amp;v=xkpX1V6aUFo&amp;event=video_description">https://apple.co/2AYdLIl</a> </div> <div>Saavn: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http