HHS to invest $3 billion for antiviral pills against COVID-19

The Biden administration will invest $3.2 billion to foster the development of antiviral pills to help fight against COVID-19, the Health and Human Services department announced Thursday, with hopes the medication becomes available to the public as soon as the end of this year.

The big picture: Researchers had tested existing antivirals like remdesivir in hospitals on patients with severe COVID-19, but they produced underwhelming results and little to no benefit.

The Food and Drug Administration has given emergency authorization for three monoclonal antibody drug treatment for early COVID infections.
Why it matters: The newly announced program, called the Antiviral Program for Pandemics, looks to close the gap on financial investment and research directed toward COVID-19 treatments and antivirals.

The program will also support research on entirely new drugs that could help respond to future pandemics.