A research team led by a University of British Columbia researcher and backed by emergency federal funding may have found a trial drug that can treat early infection of the novel coronavirus.
Led by UBC’s Dr. Josef Penninger, the team published peer-reviewed findings on April 2 in the journal Cell, saying the trial drug, called APN01, can “significantly block early stages” of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
In an interview with Global News radio host Jill Bennett, Penninger describes the trial drug as having two functions, with one being “physically blocking the door to the virus so it cannot enter” a person’s body. “The second function is actually to protect tissues like the lung, the heart or the kidneys from