Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- Two experimental anti-viral drugs will be tested to see if they are good for the treatment of patients infected with a novel coronavirus as health officials and medical staff complained about a shortage of beds and fatigue accumulation due to a spike in the number of confirmed cases.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has approved clinical trials of remdesivir, an antiviral drug developed by Gilead Sciences, an American biotech company, and Virus Suppressing Factor (VSF) produced by ImmuneMed, a bio company in South Korea, as possible treatments for coronavirus infections.

VSF and remdesivir are still experimental, but the ministry decided to increase treatment options as there is no established cure or vaccine for illnesses caused by COVID-19. VSF, based on a naturally produced protein, is being developed to treat infections such as influenza, hepatitis B and C as well as incurable skin diseases.

Earlier, Food and Drug Safety Minister Lee Eui-kyung said he would consider importing Avigan, an anti-influenza drug produced by a unit of Japan's Fujifilm group. Japan has a stockpile of Avigan for about two million people to prepare for the outbreak of a new type of influenza.

South Korean doctors have formed a task force to find proper treatment by mixing antiviral drugs used to treat flu and HIV. Kaletra, an anti-retroviral medication used for AIDS treatment, was commonly applied, but doctors were not sure whether it played a crucial role in treating patients who have fully recovered.

As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed coronavirus patients has exceeded 5,100. The virus has killed 29 people, with 34 discharged from isolation wards. Health officials announced a change of priorities in detecting and treating patients in Daegu, the epicenter of South Korea's unabated epidemic.

"In fact, there are limits in many ways," Deputy Heal and Welfare Minister Kim Kang-rip told a regular pressing briefing, adding the level of fatigue was increasing among medical staff and support personnel in Daegu. "I think there is a need to expand the inspection of ordinary Daegu citizens more than Shincheonji believers."

Shincheonji Church of Jesus has been blamed for causing a sudden spike in the number of patients, since a 61-year-old follower was guaranteed on February 17 after attending services at its branch in Daegu where 2,685 Shincheonji followers and 1,300 ordinary citizens have been infected with COVID-19.

"The entire nation has entered a war against infectious diseases," President Moon Jae-in said in a video cabinet conference. "The crisis in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province reached its peak."