Anchor: As the novel coronavirus continues to spread around the world, the race is on to find a viable treatment or cure. Most recently, a South Korean university is working in collaboration with a Chinese institute, making it one of the teams of researchers around the world scrambling to find a treatment.
Park Jong-hong has this report.

Report: To cope with the fast-spreading pandemic, researchers are racing against time to find a cure, treatment or vaccine for COVID-19.

In early March, the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica reached out to Yonsei University College of Medicine, proposing a joint clinical test to develop an antiviral treatment for the novel coronavirus.

After securing a memorandum of understanding, they began working on a potential cure, the substance of which has yet to be made public. This joint project is one of about 100 separate efforts being made worldwide.

The common goal is twofold: to develop an antiviral agent to eradicate COVID-19 and to find a treatment for patients showing severe flu-like symptoms.

There are more than 70 clinical trials dedicated to this cause in China alone, with some even experimenting with traditional medicines like mushrooms.

The U.S. is currently undertaking seven projects led by national health institutes and pharmaceutical companies. Included on one such team is Seoul National University Hospital, which is working with a treatment for Ebola called remdesivir.

Another Korean team is at the helm of a single clinical research project using the AIDS drug known as Kaletra.

At this juncture, many experts say cross-border collaboration is more crucial than ever to root out the fast-spreading viral disease.
Park Jong-hong, KBS World Radio News.