KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Progress towards a coronavirus treatment continues to push forward in the Sunflower State.
Just five months after partnering with Cocrystal Pharma, a U.S. based biotech company -- a group of researchers from Kansas State University believe they’ve found a possible therapeutic treatment for COVID-19.
“Now…it’s beyond the academic setting,” said Dr. Kyeong-Ok Chang, virologist in the KSU College of Veterinary Medicine.
“Once you see the compound is potent in animal matter then, you have the confidence that it would be potent in humans,” he added.
In the study, published in the August 3 edition of Science Translational Medicine, Dr. Chang along with a group of other virologists from K-State and the University of Kansas create a compound designed to block targets crucial to coronavirus replication and survival.
The findings are now headed to Cocrystal Pharma for further testing.
“If they find that they are safe and they can produce large amounts [of the compound], then probably they will talk with the FDA,” Dr. Chang said Tuesday. A successful tests could lead to clinical trials.
“It’s very rewarding actually, to see we are able to produce this kind of result so far,” he continued. “That’s the kind of dream for any researchers like us.”
To read the group’s full study,click here.
