# UCLA AIDS Prevention and Treatment Clinical Trials Unit

> **NIH NIH UM1** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2020 · $300,001

## Abstract

Project Summary
A novel pneumonia caused by a previously unknown betacoronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China, in December
2019. The virus is closely related to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS CoV-1), which
led to an outbreak in 2003, and has been named SARS-CoV-2. The human disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 is
called COVID-19.
During the current SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, the incidence of known cases has rapidly increased such that, on
January 5, 2020, there were 59 confirmed cases, 278 cases on January 20, 2118 cases on January 26, and
more than 80,000 cases and 2700 deaths as of February 25, 2020, according to various international health
reporting agencies. As a result, on January 30, 2020, the International Health Regulations Emergency
Committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a Public Health
Emergency of International Concern. On January 31, 2020, the US Department of Health and Human Services
declared a public health emergency in the United States. As of March 21, 2020, there are 297,090 cases of
COVID-19, including 22,177 cases in the United States (US), resulting in a total of 12,755 deaths globally.
Despite quarantine measures, SARS-CoV-2 continues to spread (1). Outbreak forecasting and modeling suggest
that these numbers will continue to rise (2).
At present, there is no specific antiviral therapy for COVID-19. Few treatment studies have been conducted
because most human CoV strains cause self-limited disease, and care is supportive. After SARS-CoV-1 was
identified in 2002-2003 and caused a large global outbreak, there was an increased interest in the development
of specific therapeutic agents. SARS-CoV-1 patients were treated with corticosteroids, type 1 IFN agents,
convalescent plasma, ribavirin, and lopinavir or ritonavir; except for ribavirin, many of these agents have in vitro
pre-clinical data that support their efficacy (3-11). Since the SARS-CoV-1 outbreak in 2002-2003, new
therapeutic agents targeting viral entry proteins, proteases, polymerases, and methyltransferases have been
tested; however, none of them has been shown to be efficacious in clinical trials (12-19). Recent press-release
and non-peer reviewed information suggests potential efficacy for a subset of SARS-CoV-2 patients, but this
remains to be reviewed and presented in peer-reviewed formats with sufficient granularity to be clinically
impactful.
Given the continued spread of and lack of specific antiviral therapy for SARS-CoV-2 infection, this project will
support additional testing and research to identify persons with SARS-CoV-2, and support infrastructure to
increase testing and conduct research on SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics and prevention in a safe and innovative
environment.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10166309
- **Project number:** 3UM1AI069424-14S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Judith S. Currier
- **Activity code:** UM1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $300,001
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-06-03 → 2020-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10166309

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10166309, UCLA AIDS Prevention and Treatment Clinical Trials Unit (3UM1AI069424-14S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10166309. Licensed CC0.

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