AbbVie said it will donate more than $1 million worth of its drug, Aluvia (also known as Kaletra), to China to help combat the coronavirus outbreak.
Last week, a doctor from Peking University First Hospital who was previously diagnosed with the new coronavirus pneumonia took the combo drug and found it to be effective.
The Beijing branch of China’s National Health Commission said that a combination of lopinavir and ritonavir is part of its latest treatment plan for patients infected by the virus. The government said there is no effective anti-virus medicine but suggested taking two lopinavir/ritonavir pills and inhaling a dose of nebulized alpha-interferon twice a day.
Reportedly, clinical trials are underway using ritonavir and lopinavir to treat coronavirus cases.
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