A ground-breaking research project to develop an antiviral drug for Covid-19 has been rolled out in the UAE.
The social initiative Sandooq Al Watan and the University of Sharjah signed research agreements to launch the project, according to a report posted on Twitter by the Abu Dhabi Media Office (ADMO).
Introduced under Sandooq Al Watan’s applied research and development programme (SWARD), the research project aims to design a dual-inhibitor antiviral drug to treat SARS-CoV2 (the Covid-19 virus) which would be able to block “major enzymes” required for viral infection.
“The new proposed product will provide a platform to overcome any possible drug resistance or evolved future viral outbreaks,” the ADMO added in the tweet.
The project was part of the three research grants awarded by Sandooq Al Watan to support the UAE’s efforts to combat the spread of the virus.
The other two, awarded to the University of Sharjah and New York University- Abu Dhabi, will focus on developing solutions for detecting Covid-19 in patients through a rapid, simple, scalable, and cost-effective method.
