2 Chinese anti-COVID-19 drug candidates enter human trials – Chinadaily.com.cn

SHANGHAI — Two Chinese antiviral medicine for COVID-19 mainly developed by the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have commenced human trials overseas. One candidate, coded VV116, is an oral anti-COVID-19 nucleoside drug that has yielded promising results in animal models. It has shown significant inhibiting activity against COVID-19 original strain and variant strain, such as the Delta variant, in vitro tests, the institute said Wednesday. “VV116 was first approved for clinical trials in Uzbekistan,” said Shen Jingshan, a researcher with the institute, adding that human trials are also underway in China. The other…