COVID-19: drug repurposing; and, learning from Singapore

THE Medical Journal of Australia has today published two more papers on COVID-19 as part of its rapid-review process.

1. Drug repurposing in the era of COVID – a market failure needing leadership and government investment

“While the discovery and development of new drugs remains essential, a ‘new’ drug requires approximately 12-16 years’ processing time and an investment of US$1-2 billion to achieve regulatory approval. In contrast, repurposing an “old” drug for a new therapeutic use takes on average 6.5 years to obtain approval and an investment of US$300 million. A combination of both traditional drug development and drug repurposing is therefore prudent if we are to make timely inroads into treating HCoVs more efficiently and deliver a significant impact on human health.”

https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2020/drug-repurposing-era-covid-market-failure-needing-leadership-and-government-investment

2. From SARS to COVID-19: the Singapore journey

“Having experienced SARS in 2003, Singapore's healthcare system had drawn upon this experience to enhance its pandemic preparedness response. The emergence of COVID-19 has now put these preparations to the test. We describe the evolution of Singapore's outbreak response from the SARS crisis in 2003 to the current COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on public health measures as well as the clinical management and workflows at the National Center for Infectious Diseases, Singapore.”

https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2020/sars-covid-19-singapore-journey

Both articles are online now and are open access. No log-in is required to view these articles.