The Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, recently applied to patent the use of remdesivir to treat the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak. It released a news on its website on February 4 stating that it has conducted joint research with the Academy of Military Medical Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences and has made significant progress in screening Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) drugs, and its research shows that remdesivir and chloroquine phosphate effectively inhibit the infection of 2019-nCoV at the cellular level. Then, Wuhan Institute of Virology declared that it applied for a Chinese invention patent (for use of remdesivir for treating COVID-19) on January 21 and will enter major countries around the world through the PCT. However, it also noted it would temporarily drop the patent claims if it had the opportunity to collaborate with foreign biopharma companies to battle the epidemic.

Remdesivir was originally developed by Gilead to treat the Ebola virus. Gilead still owns the fundamental patent of the drug. Gilead Sciences issued a statement from Merdad Parsey, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer. He said, “Remdesivir is not yet licensed or approved anywhere globally and has not been demonstrated to be safe or effective for any use. Gilead is working with health authorities in China to establish a randomized, controlled trial to determine whether remdesivir can safely and effectively be used to treat COVID-19. We are also expediting appropriate laboratory testing of remdesivir against 2019-nCoV samples.”

However, the World Health Organization tried to correct any drug breakthroughs reported by the media against the outbreak, stating there are “no known” drugs against the virus. “There are no known effective therapeutics against this COVID-19 and WHO recommends enrollment into a randomized controlled trial to test efficacy and safety,” the organization said. “A master global clinical trial protocol for research and prioritization of therapeutics is ongoing at the WHO.”

The patent application of Wuhan Institute of Virology has caused extensive discussions, and there are many criticisms inside and outside the industry. Guangming Daily stated in its comments that research and development of pharmaceuticals can make money only if it meets the people's hopes, and the order cannot be reversed. In addition, some people in the industry expressed a supportive view that if Wuhan Institute of Virology holds a patent for use, it is equivalent to having a bargaining chip, and cross-licensing can be used to reduce the purchase price of remdesivir, so it is necessary to apply for a patent.

To date, the 2019-nCoV has infected almost 77,000 and killed almost 2700. The 2019-nCoV, which comes from the same family of viruses as the common cold, SARS and MERS, possibly began in the city of Wuhan, China. The Chinese government and the people are very much looking forward to the emergence of a specific medicine to fight the 2019-nCoV. In previous media reports, experts believed that a traditional Chinese medicine called Shuanghuanglian could inhibit 2019-nCoV and spurred people to buy it madly, but this report was later proved to be untrue.